
Marshal McMahoj 



LIYES 



OP 



IRISHMEN'S SONS 



AND 



THEIR DESCENDANTS. 



BY 



COLONEL JAMES E. McGEE, 



AUTHOR OF "IRISH SOLDERS IN EVERY LAND." 



NEW YORK : A 

J. A. McGEE, Publisher, 
7 Barclay St. 

1874. 



^t 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, April, 1874, 

By James E. McGee, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



Printed and Stereotyped at the New York Catholic Protectory, 
West Chester, New York. 



TO MY YOUNG FELLOW-CITIZENS 

BOEN IN AMEEICA 

or 

IEISH DESCENT OE PAEENTAGE, 
HOPING, WHILE THEY WILL PEOVE LOYAL TO THE 

LAND OF THEIE BIETH, 

T HEY WILL NOT BE FOUND WANTING IN LOVE AND 

ESTEEM FOE THAT OF THEIE 

FOEEFATHEES, 

THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED 

BY THE AUTHOE. 



PREFACE. 



In selecting the lives of five great men as the stib- 
jects of this volume, I had the following objects in view : 

I. I thought I perceived in their histories the devel- 
opment of as many distinct types of Irish character, 
widely differing one from the other, but all exhibiting 
in ft remarkable degree, the national, latent genius of 
our race, modified by time, place, and circumstances. 
McMahon, Duke of Magenta and President of the French 
Republic, has long seemed to me the beau ideal of a 
Franco-Irish soldier ; brave, austere, and reserved, lov- 
ing arms as a profession and his native country with his 
whole heart, yet capable of yielding at times to the 
softer impulses of our nature, or of leading a desperate 
charge, amid dead and dying, with undisturbed compo- 
sure. Andrew Jackson, seventh President of our Re- 
public, I regard as a thorough North-of-Ireland Gael; 
rugged, inflexible, and thoroughly tenacious in purpose, 
with a mind that arrived at just conclusions more by 
intuition than through reflection, and whose will was so 
unswerving that he easily gained the mastery over more 
cultivated, but less firm dispositions. The late Cardinal 
Wiseman was the lineal descendant, in the spiritual 



VI PREFACE. 

order, of those devoted and learned men, who in the in- 
fancy of the Church in the West, gave to Ireland the 
proud title of the Isle of Scholars and Saints, and whose 
missionary labors were circumscribed only by the bounds 
of the then known world. His Spanish birth and Roman 
education may have somewhat tempered and refined 
his natural idiosyncrasies, but, in almost all his actions 
may be traced that ardent love for learning, and burn- 
ing zeal in the propagation of the faith, which character- 
ized the disciples of St. Patrick and their successors. 
General Sheridan is the modern Irish soldier, very 
little changed by his American associations, and might, 
if he had been born a couple of centuries ago, have 
ridden beside Owen Roe, or charged with Patrick 
Sarsfield. Fieldmarshal O'Donnell, on the other hand, 
may be regarded as among the last of a race of men 
who in former times swayed much more by their physi- 
cal, mental, and social qualities than by any hereditary 
right. Ardently devoted to the profession of arms, prince- 
ly in generosity and lavish in expenditure, of unsullied 
personal honor, they looked upon their swords as the 
insignia of the highest nobility, and the field of battle 
as the true stage for the exhibition of all their many vir- 
tues. They have nearly all passed away, but though the 
world may have grown wiser and less romantic, it cannot 
recall their chivalrous deeds without a sympathetic sigh. 



PREFACE. Vll 

II. Of late years it has become the fashion with a 
certain class of policical speakers, and editors of obscure 
newspapers, who, wishing to trade on the generous in- 
stincts of the Irish immigrants in America, think to flatter 
their vanity by claiming as Irish every man of Gaelic 
nomenclature, regardless of where he was born or what 
have been his antecedents. This is neither correct nor 
complimentary to those to whom such assertions are 
addressed, and, if honestly entertained, simply defeats 
the ends sought to be attained. McMahon, for example, 
is not an Irishman but a Frenchman, as Jackson was 
a true type of an American democrat, who loved Ten- 
nessee much better than he did Antrim. Those who 
claim too much will not even be accorded what is their 
due. I was anxious, therefore, in part at least, to correct 
this growing and, to me, humiliating evil, by placing 
before the public a few great names, not as Irishmen, 
but as the inheritors of the brain and muscle of that 
undying race from which so many distinguished men 
have sprung, developed and trained by foreign asso- 
ciations, as well as by the accident of birth. 

III. I was also desirous to show to those who, not 
caring to look under the surface of society, or to trace 
the connection between cause and effect, frequently ask 
why it is that Ireland does not now produce more great 
thinkers, scientific soldiers, and astute statesmen, that 



Vlll PREFACE. 

the reason is the expatriation of that class of her popu- 
lation which produces the clearest minds and the most 
acute understandings. This emigration found an outlet 
on the continent of Europe in the last century, and left 
as its descendants such men as the Duke of Magenta 
and the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. Later, 
the tide was turned to the Western World, and, disap- 
pearing gradually in the course of nature, left behind as 
its representatives such men as Jackson and Sheridan. 
Had Ireland enjoyed the advantages of an independent, 
paternal government, the greater part of her children 
would have still nestled lovingly in her bosom, and the 
valor, learning, and genius which have been lavished 
by her sons and their offspring in every part of the 
globe, would have been cherished and nurtured at home. 
IV. If I have succeeded in effecting any of these 
objects, or even in suggesting then* accomplishment to 
others, I shall be well satisfied, trusting that as time 
passes and correct ideas of contemporary characters be- 
come more general, the mental gifts and meritorious 
actions of the descendants of the Irish in this, as in 
other lands, will be found as conspicuous and praise- 
worthy as those of any other race now represented 

anions us. 

J. E. M. 

New York, January, 1874. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

McMahon, Duke op Magenta, President of France 11 

Andrew Jackson, Seventh President of the United 

States 67 

Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman .... 155 

Lieutenant-General Philip H. Sheridan . . 212 

FlELDMARSHAL LEOPOLD O'DONNELL, Count of 

Lucena and Duke of Tetuan .... 262 




IRISHMEN'S SONS. 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA, 

PRESIDENT OF FRANCE. 

As we write, one of the foremost men 
in Christendom, as far certainly as reputa- 
tion, abilities, position, and all that con- 
stitutes mundane greatness are concerned, 
is undoubtedly Maria Esme Patrick Mau- 
rice McMahon, the highest ranking officer 
in the French army, and, for the time being 
at least, president of the French Republic. 

This remarkable man was born in the 
old family mansion at Sully, France, on 
the 13th day of June, 1808. Though not 
of immediate Irish parentage, there is no 
possible doubt that paternally he is the 
direct descendant of a very ancient and 
noble Irish family, and can trace his pedi- 



12 ikishmen's sons. 

gree in a direct line through successive 
generations for at least five hundred years. 
Patrick McMahon, a more modern ancestor, 
was an officer in King James II's army and 
a native of Torrodile, county Limerick, Ire- 
land. Upon the defeat of that unfortunate 
monarch's forces he left the country and, 
with his wife Margaret, nee O'Sullivan, and 
his children, emigrated to France and took 
service under Louis XIV. One of his sons, 
John McMahon, also a soldier, was created 
first Count d'Equilly for distinguished and 
meritorious conduct. Though brought up 
in France, D'Equilly seems not only to 
have been a loyal French subject but an 
ardent Irishman proud of his name and 
race, and not ashamed of his native land in 
the hour of her humiliation. We find from 
an examination of the archives of Birming- 
ham Tower, Dublin, that on September 
28th, 1749, he applied by letter to the 
authorities of that day to have all histori- 
cal and genealogical papers and records 
connected with the history of his family, 
collected, collated, and recorded, and offi- 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 13 

cial copies of the same forwarded to him, 
" so that his children and his posterity in 
France might know that they were of 
Irish descent." As he accompanied this 
request with a liberal fee, it is unnecessary 
to say it was granted. This patriotic 
Count was the grandfather of the present 
Marshal, Duke and President. 

But Patrick McMahon seems to have had 
other children, for in 1760, a petition was 
sent to Louis XV, from Captain Maurice 
McMahon, a Knight of Malta, on behalf of 
himself and of his brothers, Count d'Equilly 
and the Bishop of Killaloe, setting forth, 
among other matters, that " they draw their 
maternal origin from the lords of Clondir- 
ola, in Ireland, who were descended from 
the lords and princes of Clare, who were 
issue of the ancient monarchs of Ireland. 
Their attachment to the Catholic religion 
and their legitimate prince have deprived 
them of their possessions and titles, and 
they find it impossible to establish their 
noble and ancient extraction by literal 
proofs. But they have proofs and testi- 



14 irishmen's sons. 

monials beyond all suspicion, and admitted 
lb j the tribunals, which establish their nobil- 
ity, not only from the year 1400, but even 
up to Brian Boru, monarch of Ireland in the 
beginning of the eleventh century, and that 
they are of the same family as the Earls of 
Thomond, whom the king has honored with 
his favor." We are not informed what was 
the effect of this appeal, and we have no 
doubt of its veracity, but from the character 
of the effete sovereign who then disgraced 
the throne of France, we conclude that it 
was thrown aside and forgotten. 

The number of the D'Equilly family we 
have no means of ascertaining, but it is 
certain that he gave at least two sons to 
the service of his adopted country : one, 
the second count of the name, the father 
of the subject of our sketch, who rose to 
the rank of Lieutenant-General, and Com- 
mander of the Royal and Military Order 
of St. Louis, and the other a younger 
brother who attained the position of Major- 
General. 

With such family antecedents and with 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 15 

the hereditary military genius of his race, 
it required little foresight to prognosticate 
a brilliant future for the cherished scion 
of the house of McMahon-D'Equilly. His 
father certainly, with natural parental af- 
fection, appears to have indulged in such 
fond anticipations, and to have paid the 
most scrupulous attention to his education, 
physical, mental, and moral. His first 
studies were made under the supervision 
of his parents at a quiet preparatory school 
in Autun, which he left for the Military 
Academy of St. Cyr in November, 1825, 
being then in his seventeenth year. 

It was previous to this event that he ac- 
quired a knowledge of those cardinal prin- 
ciples which were destined to form a 
character so remarkable, and to govern 
his entire life. Abstinence, self-denial of 
all deleterious pleasures, and vigorous 
exercise, built up a constitution that seems 
to have defied the ravages of climate, ex- 
posure, and time itself; quiet communings 
with his father beneath the shade of his 
ancestral forests gave to his disposition a 



16 irishmen's sons. 

serious, though by no means sombre color- 
ing, while that deep reverence for religion, 
that love for the faith of his fathers, which 
have ever characterized him, were nurtured 
and matured at his mother's knee, and in 
the society of his friends and relatives. 

St. Cyr, it is generally known, is not 
only one of the best military colleges in 
existence, but it is, and was, particularly 
after the restoration of Louis XVIII, one 
of the most aristocratic and sociably most 
exclusive. Thither what has been called 
the best blood of France, the descendants 
of the Montmorencis, Maurepas, Cavaign- 
acs, De Broglies, and even the princes of 
the royal blood, were sent to learn the 
rudiments of that art, in the practice of 
which so many of them have shed such lustre 
on their order and on the gallant nation 
they in part represented. 

In less than two years young McMahon' 
completed his course, to the entire satisfac- 
tion of his professors, and left St. Cyr with 
an excellent reputation as a student and 
the rank of sous-lieutenant eleve, having been 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 17 

assigned to the 4th Huzzars, in which an 
older brother was already captain. 

In 1830, however, upon the resignation 
of the latter, the young soldier, anxious 
to experience the excitement and danger 
of actual warfare, of which he had been 
only enjoying "the pomp, pride, and cir- 
cumstance," exchanged into the 20th regi- 
ment and embarked with it for Algeria, 
then the theatre of hazardous and continu- 
ous conflict. Still we may presume that 
the years of peace were not misspent by 
the future Fieldmarshal, for on emerging 
from St. Cyr and his entry into the ser- 
vice, he joined the Staff School of Instruc- 
tion, in which all the time that could be 
spared from his routine duties was em- 
ployed. Scott, in his " Military Dictionary," 
lays it down as an axiom that the staff 
officer should at least know as much as the 
General whom he serves. Artillery prac- 
tice, cavalry and infantry tactics, and 
strategy are the least of his attainments; 
familiarity with permanent and ' field forti- 
fications ; topographical engineering and 



18 irishmen's sons. 

surveying; drawing, designing, and map- 
making; means of supply and transpor- 
tation, and the knowledge of a hundred 
other details affecting the organization, 
movement, equipment, and disposition of 
troojDS in quarters or on the march, form 
the most essential qualifications of an 
accomplished aide. 

Three years diligently spent in the ac- 
quisition of these multitudinous branches 
of the military profession must have pro- 
duced a marked effect on a mind so 
peculiarly constituted as that of the young 
sous-lieutenant, for even at that early age 
he was preeminent for his sedate habits, 
unostentatious industry, and application, 
as well as for his extraordinary capacity 
for mastering the most abstruse scientific 
problems. His tastes led him naturally 
toward the higher branches, such as 
mathematics and astronomy, the study of 
which generally has a tendency to give 
system and steadiness to the reasoning fac- 
ulties, as well as to elevate the mind above 
the little affairs of life ; while his innate 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 19 

pride and gravity of character prevented 
him from taking part in the frivolities and 
dissipation too often indulged in by his 
junior brother officers. 

Thus, after five years' training in St. 
Cyr and the Staff School, at the green age 
of twenty-two we find the young Franco- 
Irish soldier, enthusiastic though self-con- 
tained, entering on his career of danger 
and glory, thoroughly versed in the theory 
of warfare, and only anxious to submit his 
school knowledge to the test of actual ex- 
perience. On his arrival in Algeria he 
was detached from the 20th and placed on 
the staff of General Achard, then command- 
ing the French forces in Africa. As orderly 
officer to that commander he formed a 
portion of his personal staff, and accompa- 
nied him on his first expedition against Me- 
deah. On this his " first brush" he greatly 
distinguished himself, it is said, by his 
coolness and intrepidity in bearing de- 
spatches from one part of the lines to an- 
other, under the fire of a keen and skilful 
enemy, always on the alert to pick off their 



20 irishmen's sons. 

opponents in gross or in detail. Belidali is 
mentioned as one of the scenes of his 
gallantry, when the future stormer of the 
Malakoff, being alone, was closely pursued 
by a body of Arabs, who shot his horse 
under him and nearly ended his military 
aspirations forever. 

General Achard was the next year re- 
called and sent into the Low Countries. 
He took with him his favorite staff- officer, 
who is mentioned in contemporaneous re- 
ports as having exhibited his usual bravery 
and self-possession at the siege of Antwerp 
in 1832, during the Belgian revolution. 
For his conduct on this occasion he was 
promoted to a captaincy and decorated 
with the insignia of the Order of St. Leo- 
pold. 

As the war in Africa at that time does 
not appear to have been prosecuted with 
any degree of vigor, or to have presented 
many opportunities for preferment or dis- 
tinction — the soldier's twin guiding stars — 
Captain McMahon did not return to Algeria 
till 1836, when affairs seemed about to 



DUKE OF MAGENTA. 21 

assume a more earnest and, to him, a more 
interesting aspect. He was at once at- 
tached to the staff of General Damremont, 
and in the desperate assault on the city and 
fortifications of Constantine was, as might 
have been expected, conspicuous for his 
efficiency and daring. This time, however, 
he did not come out of the struggle scath- 
less, for during that engagement of almost 
unparalleled fierceness between the instru- 
ments of aggressive civilization and the 
wild children of the desert,, who strove to 
defend their homes and families, he was 
badly wounded and obliged to be taken 
off the field. Yet his sufferings were, in his 
opinion, more than amply solaced by his 
being appointed an officer of the Legion of 
Honor. France, whether monarchical, im- 
perialistic, or republican, always knew how 
to reward her soldiers. 

Upon recovering from his injuries and 
again reporting for duty, McMahon was 
assigned to General Changarnier's staff, 
a position which he occupied until 1840, 
when a wider field and a more responsible 



22 irishmen's sons. 

career were opened to him. In that year 
the Chasseurs-a-pied, or as they were some- 
times called the Chasseurs cP Orleans, after 
their organizer, the prince of that name, 
were raised for African service, and the 
command of the tenth battalion having 
been tendered to McMahon, it was accepted. 
Heretofore he had acted only on the staff, 
endeavoring by practical observation and 
strict obedience to learn how to command. 
He was now, at the age of thirty-two, to 
have, an independent force — a flying col- 
umn as it were — and a miniature staff of 
his own. 

In the two years following, at the head 
of his chasseurs he made several success- 
ful incursions into the country of the 
Kabyles, and took an active part in the 
decisive campaign which eventuated in the 
complete subjugation of the Arab tribes, 
and the capture of their great chief Abd-el- 
Kader. 

His promotion now became rapid, and 
must have been highly satisfactory to the 
distinguished soldier who; as a sous-lieuten- 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 23 



ant had, more than a decade past, evinced 
so mnch youthful bravery combined with 
mature deliberation and knowledge of his 
profession. In 1842, he was commissioned 
Lieutenant-Colonel in the 2d Foreign 
Legion, next, Colonel of the 41st Infantry, 
and finally, in 1848, Brigadier- General. 
His semi-civic advancement also showed 
what confidence was placed in his pru- 
dence and executive abilities by the gov- 
ernment of the day, for in the latter year 
we find him Governor of Tiemeen, and 
in the following, his jurisdiction was ex- 
tended over the provinces of Constantine 
and Oran. 

But greater honors awaited him. In 
July, 1852, he was promoted General of 
Division, and while yet engaged in subduing 
the Algerine tribes and endeavoring to bring 
those already conquered under some regular 
system of government, the Crimean war, 
as it is called, broke out in 1854, when he 
was summoned to France to take part in 
it. McMahon was assigned at once to the 
command of the First corps oVarmee, and, 



24 irishmen's sons. 

with a portion of the Allied fleet, ordered to 
the Baltic, the intention being that, after the 
reduction of Cronstadt by the naval forces, 
a landing of the troops should be effected, 
and by thus threatening the capital to make 
a powerful diversion in favor of the southern 
movement. The attempt failed. Cronstadt 
was found so strongly fortified as to be 
unassailable ; the British went through the 
forms of an attack and retired, and the whole 
project was abandoned. In consequence of 
this, McMahon's sphere of action was trans- 
ferred to the still famous peninsula of 
Chersonese, so renowned in ancient military 
as well as legendary history. 

Whatever may be thought of the motives 
or causes which led to that war, it cannot 
well be denied that the Colossus of the 
North, semi- civilized though it was and is 
to this day, but more decidedly so twenty 
years ago, displayed in its struggle with 
the Western powers, immense resources, 
great administrative ability, endurance, 
bravery, and even genius. Attacking 
Turkey at her own doors, and threatening 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 25 

England's Asiatic possessions, Russia nec- 
essarily aroused the hostility of some of the 
most powerful and martial nations of south- 
western Europe, who, combining their mar- 
itime, military, and moneyed resources 
against her, seemed about, by one decisive 
blow, not only to check her career of 
conquest but to destroy, utterly ruin, and 
disintegrate the gigantic but ill- cemented 
mass which constitutes the Muscovite 
Empire. Had Austria then joined the 
quadruple alliance, it is not improbable that 
such a comprehensive scheme would have 
been earned out, but that astute power held 
aloof, preferring to see her rivals engaged 
in weakening each other ; and her neutral- 
ity, as may be seen at a glance at the map of 
Europe, left Russia vulnerable only on two 
sides: by the Baltic and the Black seas. 

The approach by the former, however, 
was beset by many and almost insurmount- 
able difficulties. Every defensible point 
was strongly fortified; while nature, far 
mightier than man in her works, had closed 
up the ocean itself for more than six months 



26 irishmen's sons. 

in the year by an icy barrier more impas- 
sable than moat or castle wall. The at- 
tempt, therefore, in this direction to assail a 
vital part of the empire, if even seriously 
contemplated, failed, and the main move- 
ment had to be directed against the south- 
ern extremity of the Czar's dominions, the 
Crimea. 

Sebastopol, the principal position and key 
to the peninsula, was at that time and, not- 
withstanding the ravages of war, continues 
to be, a place of great natural strength. 
Its harbor, partly the work of art, is capa- 
cious and deep, and susceptible of having 
its approaches strongly defended from the 
surrounding eminences. Before the war, its 
docks, hewn out of the solid rock, were re- 
garded as triumphs of engineering skill, and 
its extensive dockyards were capable of 
turning out annually, not only large fleets 
of merchandise, but of supplying the govern- 
ment with all the armed ships it required to 
carry its flag into every part in the Black and 
Azof seas. Large stores of ordnance, small 
arms, powder, and other munitions of war 



MCMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 27 

were kept continually in the arsenals, while 
a garrison of more than ordinary magnitude 
was stationed constantly in its fortifications 
to defend the position and keep the hetero- 
geneous population in awe and order. 

It was against this place, at once a fortress 
and a naval rendezvous, that the whole force 
of the powers that had declared war against 
Russia was directed. England provided the 
largest naval armament and a very respect- 
able military force, the greater part of which 
was, unfortunately, composed of Irishmen, 
twenty thousand of whom embarked from 
Dublin for the intended seat of war early 
in 1854, and only three thousand of whom 
returned after two years' service. France 
furnished a most imposing army but a 
smaller fleet. Italy, or rather Sardinia, sent 
twenty thousand land-forces, while Turkey's 
quota consisted principally of bands of ir- 
regular cavalry, and infantry still more bar- 
barous, and fanatical scouts, thieves, and 
licentious marauders. Taken altogether, it 
was a mighty and varied host, and had one 
element of success at least, a spirit of national 



28 

rivalry. At the outset, the commander- 
in-chief was Lord Raglan, but his successors 
were all Frenchmen. Of course, during the 
progress of the war each country kept the 
depleted ranks of its armies as full as pos- 
sible by recruiting at home, but as we are 
not aware that any reliable returns of the 
grand total have ever been published, it is 
impossible to say with accuracy how many 
men, ships, and guns were operating against 
the enemy. 

On the side of Russia, from the meagre 
accounts received, generally through hostile 
channels, we conclude that there were about 
two hundred thousand men of all anus, and 
as their lines of communication had been 
cut early in the struggle and their fleet 
sunk and destroyed to prevent its capture, 
there is no reason to believe that any con- 
siderable reinforcements reached them dur- 
ing the siege. It has also been stated upon 
apparently good authority, that before the 
approach of Raglan in rear of the city, the 
fortifications on that side were very weak, 
and bore no comparison whatever to those 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 29 

afterwards erected in front of the Allies 
under the intelligent superintendence of 
Totleben. 

The first serious battle between the con- 
tending armies was that of the Alma, 
September 20, 1854, which was gained by 
the Allies under command of Fieldmarshal 
Leroy de St. Arnaud, who had succeeded 
Lord Raglan, and who himself in a few days 
afterwards gave place to Pelissier. General 
McMahon, who on his arrival in the Crimea 
was ordered to relieve Canrobert in the 
command of the first division of the second 
corps of the French contingent, doubtless 
took an active part in this action. Then 
followed the engagements of Balaclava and 
Inkermann, after the latter of which the Rus- 
sians withdrew behind their newly- made 
fortifications, and sullenly prepared for a 
regular and long siege. 

This lasted through the terrible winter of 
1854-'55, and into the autumn of the latter 
year, all the hideous features of an invest- 
ment — famine, pestilence, and death — ex- 
hibiting themselves as prominently to the 



30 irishmen's sons. 

besiegers as to the beleaguered. Of the 
English army alone ten thousand are said to 
have died from want or exposure, though the 
French, having a better commissariat, did 
not suffer so severely from those causes. 

At length, in September, 1855, it was re- 
solved to make a general attack on the entire 
works, the principal of which were the Mal- 
akoff and the Redan, the Mamelon Vert hav- 
ing been destroyed some time previously. 
Of the two remaining, the Malakoff, it is 
known, was immeasurably the strongest and 
largest, and its capture, according to mil- 
itary courtesy, was assigned by the French 
commander-in-chief to his own country- 
men, while the English and Italian troops 
were directed against the minor work. To 
General McMahon was intrusted the des- 
perate and hazardous, but, to the true 
soldier, the highly honorable duty of lead- 
ing the assault. 

About noon on the 7th of September, the 
Russian garrison was surprised to see, during 
a lull in the firing, a mass of French soldiers 
swarming up the slope in their front, some in 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 31 



solid column of attack, and others, the tirail- 
leurs and zouaves, scattered over the entire 
surface without any apparent order. The 
very audacity of the manoeuvre for awhile 
silenced the men within the defences, but 
their inaction was momentary. Every gun 
that could be brought to bear on the assail- 
ants belched forth its deadly missives, and 
volleys from ten thousand muskets swelled 
the awful din. Many of the French troops 
fell at the first fire, but their movements 
had been so well designed and so swiftly 
executed that before a second or third dis- 
charge could be given they were across the 
dikes, over the chevaux-de-frise, in through 
the embrasures and upon the ramparts. 
Then ensued a desperate hand-to-hand en- 
counter in the trenches seldom equalled in 
the magnitude of the number engaged or 
in the obstinacy with which every inch of 
ground was disputed. For a time the re- 
sult seemed doubtful, and even Pe'lissier, 
fearing the works were mined, sent word to 
McMahon that it was best to retire. His 
reply was characteristic : Ty suis entre, et 



32 irishmen's sons. 

fy resterai. Gradually the Russians gave 
way before the impetuosity and desperate 
gallantry of their Gallic foemen, and finally 
their retreat from the works, at first stern 
and orderly, became changed into a precip- 
itate and confused rout. Thus was the 
great Malakoff won and the city of Sebasto- 
pol virtually captured. 

But while this terrible drama was being 
enacted on one part of the field, another, of 
a very different character, was presented at 
no great distance. The English and their 
Italian auxiliaries had recoiled from the fire 
of the Redan, and lay cowering in the zig- 
zags, in some cases refusing to obey their 
officers who, to do them all justice, were anx- 
ious to make another attempt to capture the 
fort. McMahon saw the difficulty at once, 
and promptly turning the captured guns of 
the Malakoff on its sister work, so over- 
awed its defenders that under cover of his 
fire the English again assaulted and entered 
the trenches with little trouble. The entire 
defences being now in possession of the 
Allies, the defeated army, under cover of the 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 33 



night, withdrew in good order, the city 
proper surrendered, and the war, for all 
practical purposes, ended. 

For his gallant conduct on this occasion 
General McMahon received the Grand Cross 
of the Legion of Honor ; he had already at 
intervals been decorated with the insignia 
of the inferior grades, with the rjolitical 
rank of Senator of France, and, what he 
probably most valued, the highest encomi- 
ums of his brother officers and the applause 
of the entire nation. It is a strange coin- 
cidence that the very theatre of his glory in 
this instance should have been in the coun- 
try which more than a century previous 
had been won for Russia by the compatriot 
and fellow soldier of his grandfather, Field- 
marshal Lacy. 

The treaty of Paris, which followed soon 
after the fall of Sebastopol, restored peace 
to Europe, so McMahon's services were again 
transferred to Algeria. He was made com- 
mander-in-chief of the land and naval forces 
of that province, but, though constantly en- 
gaged with one or other of the wild tribes. 
2 



34 irishmen's sons. 

of that irrepressible region, we do not find 
any incident in his career worth recording 
till the Franco-Italian war of 1859 again 
brought him prominently before the world 
and crowned him with new laurels. 

Early in that year the Emperor Napoleon, 
in conjunction with the King of Sardinia, 
prepared to drive Austria from her posses- 
sions in Northern Italy, and, in the cant 
phrase of the day, to proclaim the " unifica- 
tion" of the Italian peninsula. In the 
spring he accordingly departed from ad- 
miring and enthusiastic France with a 
large and splendidly equipped army, in 
which General McMahon commanded the 
Second Corps. On the 21st of May the 
first collision between the contending forces 
took place at Montebello, in which fifteen 
thousand Austrians were defeated by the 
advance guard of the French. Then fol- 
lowed a short, sharp, and brilliant campaign, 
and a succession of battles the description 
of which recalls to our minds the lightning- 
like movements of the first Napoleon in his 
youthful and more successful days. Pales- 



35 

tro, May 30; Magenta, June 4; Malig- 
nance June 18 ; Solferino, June 24, were 
a series of victorious encounters with an ene- 
my, if not of equal numbers, which is doubt- 
ful, certainly not inferior in skill, bravery, 
and knowledge of the country. In two 
months from the date of the declaration of 
war the treaty of Villafranca was signed, and 
the map of southern Europe materially 
changed. While Venetia remained to 
Austria, Lombardy was annexed to Sardinia, 
and soon after Nice and Savoy became an 
integral portion of France. 

In this campaign, so dazzling in its in- 
ception and execution and so pregnant of 
future results, Napoleon III and Victor 
Emmanuel were of course merely the nom- 
inal commanders, Pelissier, McMahon, and 
other distinguished general officers, planning 
and carrying out to ultimate triumph all the 
strategic and tactical movements of the allied 
armies. The latter's first great achieve- 
ment on Italian soil took place on the 4th 
of June. On that day the main body of the 
Franco-Italian army, under the immediate 



36 irishmen's sons. 

command of the Emperor, attacked the 
Austrians, then strongly entrenched around 
the village and bridge of Magenta. The 
numbers on either side were about equal, 
from one hundred and fifty thousand to one 
hundred and eighty thousand. The strug- 
gle was long and obstinate, and at one time 
dire defeat stared the Allies in the face, 
when suddenly a French force appeared on 
the left, marching hastily to the support of 
their comrades. As the grand column ap- 
proached the scene of doubtful combat it de- 
ployed in mass, and sweeping down on the 
astonished Austrians, scattered them in all 
directions and changed anticipated victory 
into utter rout. This was McMahon's com- 
mand, led by himself in person. The day 
previously he had left Novara, it is credibly 
said without orders, and rapidly passing 
through Turbigo and Buffalora, arrived on 
the field of Magenta just in time to change 
the fortunes of the day and save the honor 
of the French arms. 

The losses on this occasion, as is the case 
in accounts of most battles, have never been 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 37 

accurately known, but those of the Aus- 
trians, not including prisoners, are generally 
set down at five thousand, and of the 
Allies at about three-fifths of that number. 

For his timely, judicious, and unlooked- 
for aid the French emperor was deeply 
and naturally grateful, and expressed to 
McMahon on the field orally and afterwards 
in general orders, his high appreciation of 
the services he had rendered to the army 
and to France. Subsequently he created 
him Fieldmarshal and Duke of Magenta. 

On the 24th of the same month another 
and a more decisive victory was gained at 
Solferino. Three hundred and fifty thou 
sand men are said to have been engaged on 
both sides, and the final result of the battle 
having been anticipated as decisive, no 
matter upon which side victory inclined, 
it was fought with remarkable intrepidity 
and determination. On this occasion the 
Austrians took the offensive. On the 
morning of that eventful day, although 
occupying a very strong position, they 
did not wait the onset of the Allies, 



38 irishmen's sons. 

but, crossing the river Chiese, fell with 
such fury on the Franco-Italians as to drive 
back both wings, the left, composed of the 
Sardinians under Victor Emmanuel, being 
the first to give way. At this crisis the rout 
of the whole army seemed imminent, and 
doubtless would have been so had the Aus- 
trians restrained their ardor and had, instead 
of pushing their advantage too far against 
the broken wings, taken the French centre 
on both flanks and so crushed it between 
two fires. The error thus committed was 
speedily taken advantage of by Pelissier 
and McMahon, who, concentrating all their 
forces, attacked the Austrian centre and 
utterly destroyed it. This was the turning 
point of the engagement. The Austrian army 
hastily retreated over the Chiese in as good 
order as could be expected, leaving, how- 
ever, in the hands of the victors thirty guns, 
three flags, and about seven thousand 
prisoners. The losses on both sides were 
heavy, and are thus stated : Sardinia, two 
hundred and sixteen officers and four 
thousand and fifty- one non-commissioned 



39 

officers and privates killed or wounded, and 
twelve hundred and twenty-eight missing ; 
total, five thousand five hundred and twen- 
ty-five. France, seven hundred and fifty 
officers (including five Generals wounded, 
seven colonels and six lieutenant- colonels 
killed) and twelve thousand enlisted men 
killed or wounded. Austria, seventeen thou- 
sand officers and men killed, wounded, or 
prisoners. 

McMahon's services on this day were of 
the same efficient character as usual, and, 
though only second in actual command, 
contributed materially to the success of the 
Allies. It is said, on reliable authority, that 
it was he who suggested the concentrated at- 
tack on the Austrian centre which virtually 
decided the combat, and it is certain that in 
person at the head of his corps he stormed 
and took the fortified heights which stretch- 
ed from Cavriano to Medolo, the enemy's 
strongest position. Those hills, bristling 
with batteries as they were, had heretofore 
been considered impregnable, but to a 
soldier who could take a Malakoff before 



40 

dinner they did not present very serious 
obstacles. But even the marshal's bravery 
and skill at this battle paled before his 
actions at Magenta. His praises had been 
already sounded, not only in France but 
throughout Europe, and in Italy especially 
the mention of his name evoked the warmest 
praise and the wildest enthusiasm. 

The treaty of Villafranca, as we have 
seen, followed speedily on the victory of Sol- 
ferino ; peace once more spread her dove- 
like wings over the nations of Europe, and 
the conquerors returned home to receive 
the congratulations of their countrymen 
and to wear their well- won honors, some in 
quietude and retirement, others in the public 
service. Of the latter was the Duke of 
Magenta, who seems never to have tired of 
devoting his genius, large experience, and 
high character to the public good. When the 
present Emperor of Germany was crowned 
King of Prussia in 1861, he was deputed 
by Napoleon as special envoy to represent 
France at Berlin, a duty which he per- 
formed to the great satisfaction and grati- 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 41 

fication of both courts. Shortly after he re- 
lieved Canrobert in the command of the 
Third Corps, and in 1864 we again find him 
in Algeria as Governor-General, a position 
he soon after resigned and again returned 
to France. 

We now come to an epoch in the gallant 
marshal's life which belongs more to the do- 
main of contemporary history than to that of 
biography. Hitherto we have followed him 
step by step in the paths of un dimmed glory 
and uninterrupted success. We have found 
the untitled young sous-lieutenant winning 
his way to a marshal's baton, the Grand 
Cross of the Legion of Honor, a senator ship, 
and a dukedom, by a course of unswerving 
devotion to his profession and his country, 
ever in the van of danger and always 
victorious. We have now to behold him, 
for awhile, outnumbered, defeated, and if 
not betrayed, certainly basely deceived. 
The history of the late Franco-German war 
is not written, nor will even a tittle of the 
secret motives and designs which led to it, 
and the underhand means taken to con- 



42 irishmen's sons. 

duct it to its disastrous termination, ever be 
known. Even as we write the actual com- 
mander-in-chief of the French force is on 
trial for his life, charged with incapacity, 
duplicity, and treason, and the evidence so 
far produced from some of the highest 
ranking officers in his late command, and 
from ministers of state, leaves on the mind a 
painful impression that the charges are not 
without some foundation. 

Still there are some general facts connect- 
ed with the Franco- German war which have 
been stated with such clearness, and con- 
firmed by results so striking, that they have 
received general credence. It is now known 
that for a long time, two or three years at 
least, Prussia had been preparing for an 
aggressive war on France ; that her armies 
had been put on a most efficient war foot- 
ing, equipped in the newest style, and armed 
with the most approved weapons ; that 
France, up to the gates of Paris, and even 
Paris itself, had been carefully surveyed, 
and everything noted, from a first-class fort 
to a pigsty; and that everywhere in the 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 43 

threatened sections swarmed German spies, 
in one garb or another, as laborers, clerks, 
and even subordinate attaches of the French 
bureaux. The pretence, then, of Kaiser Wil- 
liam, that he was forced into a war, may 
be considered a flimsy diplomatic false- 
hood, and his insult to the French ambassa- 
dor, which nominally led to the beginning 
of hostilities, a mere piece of chicanery. 

France, on the other hand, was not 
blameless, and in the minds of many who 
sincerely sympathize with her, deserved 
the abject humiliation inflicted by her an- 
cient enemy. Elated beyond bounds by the 
brilliant successes of the Italian campaign, 
the officers of the French armies, as a gen- 
eral thing, became self-sufficient, careless, 
and, as a consequence, ignorant of their 
duties and disinclined to perform them 
with that military regularity which is so 
essential to the efficiency of all armies. 
They were more at home in the boudoir 
and the billiard saloon than in the barrack 
or on the drill ground, and the consequence 
was that, when suddenly called into active 



44 IRISHMEN S SONS. 

service, they were found unprepared, either 
to endure the hardships of a campaign or 
" fight their men" with any degree of skill, 
or, what is the result only of skill and 
courage combined, coohiess and precision. 
Then again the late emperor, Napoleon III, 
allowed himself to be grossly deceived as 
to the number of available men and muni- 
tions of war at his disposal, by a set of 
dishonest quartermasters, commissaries, and 
others, whose duty it was to make regular 
reports of the condition of the army, but 
who, by swelling its numbers on paper and 
reporting the purchase of military stores that 
had no existence, contrived in a short time 
to enrich themselves at the expense of the 
nation. That the French emperor, other- 
wise so far-seeing and astute, should have 
allowed himself to have been so long mis- 
led and should have plunged into a war 
without accurate knowledge of his strength 
and resources, was not only astonishing but 
little short of criminal ; and though he in 
some measure personally paid the penalty 
of his credulity, it will be a long time before 



45 

the nation lie once governed can heal the 
wounds and forget the shame inflicted on 
her through his incapacity. 

While France was vaporing about her 
"natural boundary, the Rhine," and doing 
nothing but boasting, Prussia, who not only 
wished to create and consolidate a German 
empire, but to annex Alsace and Lorraine, 
a large portion of the population of which, 
of German descent and speaking that 
language, are poetically considered part 
of the Fatherland. Accordingly the dec- 
laration of war had scarcely been promul- 
gated when every road and avenue leading 
across the frontier into the coveted prov- 
inces was thronged with armed men, guns, 
wagons, and ambulances. So quick was the 
movement, so complete the previous prep- 
arations, that it may well be said that be- 
fore Napoleon set out from Paris the 
Germans had possession of nearly every 
strategical position on the French frontier, 
their line of communication with their base 
of supplies being at the same time open and 
unassailable. 



46 

The Emperor did set out at last to take 
command of his army, but it would have 
been much better for his reputation and for 
France if he had remained in his capital, 
and allowed his veteran officers to conduct 
the war. Experience has shown that mere 
nominal commanders are potent only for 
evil. The army was in two divisions, the 
first under Bazaine, and the other command- 
ed by McMahon. The headquarters were 
fixed at Metz, a very strongly fortified town, 
susceptible of still further defences. On the 
2d of July, 1871, Marshal McMahon, with 
a force of about forty thousand, was ordered 
in an easterly and forward direction to make 
a recognizance in force, and having proceed- 
ed as far as Woerth he suddenly found him- 
self confronted by the enemy, estimated at 
one hundred and sixty thousand men, under 
the personal supervision of the Crown Prince 
of Prussia. In obeying his orders he neces- 
sarily became separated from the main body 
of the army, and being vastly outnumbered 
and partly surrounded, his position was a 
desperate one. To fight against such odds 



47 

was his only course, and this he did without 
much hesitation. The unequal conflict lasted 
nearly all day and the havoc on both sides 
was proportionally great. The Marshal was 
in every part of the field, urging on and en- 
couraging, in person, his men, while at the 
same time he paid particular attention to his 
wings, which were several times in danger 
of being outflanked by their more numer- 
ous opponents. Occasionally the French, 
by the precision of their artillery fire, or the 
impetuosity of their infantry charges, would 
drive back the Germans, but only for a 
moment, for the depleted ranks were soon 
reinforced, and the fight renewed. In vain 
McMahon, his staff-officers disabled and his 
horse shot, rode into the very heart of the 
conflict, the immensely superior force of 
the Crown Prince was gradually closing 
round him and threatened to cut him off 
from Metz, and even capture his entire com- 
mand. Under cover of night he took the 
only step that could present itself to a 
judicious general. He retreated on Paris, 
with the intention of uniting himself with the 



48 irishmen's sons. 

large body of troops collected there under 
Trochu, hoping that thus, while covering the 
capital, he would soon be strong enough to 
advance and, if necessary, form a junction 
with Bazaine. 

The war department, however, in their 
self-sufficient wisdom ordained otherwise. 
Hearing of his approach they sent him orders 
to march to Metz forthwith, but neglected 
to send him a man or a gun by way of re- 
inforcing his crippled column. As was his 
wont he obeyed his instructions to the letter, 
though no one knew better than he did the 
futility of such an attempt. Still he pressed 
on and might possibly have reached Bazaine 
but for the unaccountable conduct of that 
general in neglecting to act on McMahon's 
despatches and in failing to communicate 
with him, all of which has formed a great 
portion of the charges preferred against 
Bazaine. On endeavoring to reach Metz, 
McMahon met the Germans at Sedan in 
overwhelming numbers. Disdaining to re- 
treat or surrender he drew up his small force 
in order of battle and awaited the enemy's 



49 

attack. He had not long to wait, for the 
Germans, fearing that with so diminutive 
an army he would take the first opportunity 
to fall back, rushed on him with the force 
of an avalanche. Then ensued the bloodiest 
fight of the war. The French would not 
give way and, imitating the example of their 
gallant leader, they fought with desperate 
and even reckless courage, so that it was 
only on the fall of their heroic commander, 
wounded, it was supposed mortally, that 
they acknowledged their defeat and saved 
themselves from utter annihilation by an 
army six or seven times their strength. 

We now find the Marshal wounded and, 
for the first time, a prisoner; but though 
treated with all courtesy and assigned by 
the Emperor William a residence in the 
pleasant little village of Pourru-aux-Bois, 
we can well imagine that the thought of the 
imbecility, ignorance, and treachery of those 
who had wrought such woe to his country 
must have pained more his noble spirit than 
any bodily ailment or physical suffering. 
Soon after, the preliminaries of peace be- 



50 irishmen's sons. 

tween the belligerents were signed, he was 
released from captivity, and reached Paris 
in the middle of March, 1872. 

What a contrast the metropolis presented 
to the city he had left in the plenitude of 
its splendor and gayety only eight months 
previously ! Its emperor a dethroned fugi- 
tive, its beautiful empress fled from the 
very people who had formerly almost wor- 
shipped her, and the imperial court scattered 
in all directions. The Prussians, too, had 
been at its gates, and their shot had toppled 
down many a proud turret and spire, and 
their bombs had razed more than one 
goodly edifice. And now an enemy more 
ferocious than the troops of Alaric or Jengis 
Khan was about to take possession of its 
palaces and magnificent public buildings 
and monuments, and to wreak on them, by 
petroleum and fire, an impotent fury which 
even the blood of the martyred archbishop 
and so many of his priests had not satisfied. 

Usually, particularly in countries like 
France, defeated generals, no matter how 
popular previously, lose caste and sink in 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 51 

public estimation ; and to all, of any 
prominence, who took part in the Franco- 
Prussian war, this rule was strictly applied, 
with one exception. That exception was in 
the case of Marshal McMahon. His skill in 
manoeuvring his troops and his gallantry in 
fighting so long and so desperately against 
an enemy much his superior in numbers, 
his severe wound in the heat of action, and 
his subsequent dignified conduct while a 
prisoner, endeared him, if possible, still 
more to the army, and won him the 
implicit confidence of all classes. The 
Provisional Assembly, then at Bordeaux, 
therefore very wisely appointed him to the 
command of the army around Paris, and 
having conferred on him plenary powers, 
ordered him to rescue the city from the 
hands of the Communists. He accepted the 
task with his usual willingness to serve his 
country, and executed it with his wonted 
promptness. Nor was it an easy task. 
Street fighting comes as natural to a 
Parisian ouvrier or gamin as his petit verre 
or black bread, and besides, the petrolists 



52 irishmen's sons. 

had the full control of the guns and 
ammunition reserved after the surrender of 
the city to the Germans. It was even sus- 
pected that they had many sympathizers 
in the ranks of the army intended for their 
reduction. 

The Marshal, however, was not to be 
balked by such opposition, and after several 
days of hard fighting, driving the Com- 
munists from post to post, he entered the city 
and arrested over ten thousand of the more 
prominent of the malcontents. In gratitude 
for his prompt action and signal victory, the 
delighted people offered him the dictator- 
ship, but he refused it, as he had heretofore 
refused other offers of political distinction. 
He contented himself with publishing a 
proclamation, couched in plain, straight- 
forward language, in which he assured the 
citizens of the restoration of law and order, 
and counselled them to exercise moderation, 
prudence, and forbearance. He then as- 
sumed his proper position as commander-in- 
chief, in which capacity he materially 
assisted, by his military experience and 



moral influence, M. Thiers in all his designs, 
particularly in consolidating and reorganiz- 
ing the scattered fragments of the army. 

While thus employed, the 24th of May, 
1873, arrived, a day which will be long 
remembered in France as the first instance 
in her history of a change of rulers, and to 
a certain extent, of the form of government, 
having been peaceably effected. The Pro- 
visional Assembly, which was hurriedly 
called together to take the place of the de- 
funct empire and treat with the Germans, 
moved from Bordeaux to Versailles, and 
virtually voted themselves en permanence, 
with Thiers at their head as a sort of quasi 
president. No actual form of government 
was authoritatively proclaimed, for no party 
in the house, republican, monarchist, or 
imperialist, could command a majority 
favorable to its particular views. The 
veteran statesman at the head of the tem- 
porary government did indeed, in' May, 
propose the formation of a permanent 
republic, but after an animated debate he 
was defeated by a vote of three hundred 



54 irishmen's sons. 

and sixty-two against three hundred and 
forty-eight, the Napoleonist, Legitimist, 
and Orleanist factions having coalesced 
against him. He therefore resigned his 
portfolio. 

Then arose the question, "Who should 
succeed him and take the helm? None 
but a man who had the full confidence of 
the people and the army, whose impartiality 
was above suspicion, and whose patriotism 
and integrity had been tried, was fit to be 
selected at such an eventful crisis and to 
assume the responsibility of preserving peace 
and of bringing order out of chaos. That 
man was McMahon, and when his name was 
mentioned for President of the Republic in 
the Assembly it was received with cheers 
from all sides, and he was forthwith elected. 
On being formally notified of the high honor 
conferred on him, with the willingness that 
ever induced him to set aside his own in- 
clinations when the good of his country 
demanded the sacrifice, he accepted the re- 
sponsible trust in the following few, but 
emphatic words : 



55 



Messieurs the Representatives : I obey the will 
of the Assembly, the depositary of the national sov- 
ereignty, in accepting the charge of President of the 
Republic. It is a heavy responsibility imposed upon 
my patriotism ; but with God's help, the devotion of 
our army, which will be the army of law, and the sup- 
port of honest men, we shall continue together the 
work of the liberation of the territory and the re- 
establishment of moral order in our country; we 
shall maintain internal peace and those principles up- 
on which society can repose. In saying this I pledge 
you my word of honor as an honest man and a sol- 
dier. 

Marshal McMahon, 

Duke of Magenta. 

To the prefects of France he addressed, 
the day following, a brief circular, which 
read thus : 

I have been called, through the confidence of the 
National Assembly, to the Presidency of the Republic. 
No immediate change will be made in the existing laws, 
regulations, and institutions. I rely upon material 
order, and I count upon you, upon your vigilance, 
and upon your patriotic assistance. The Ministry will 
be formed to-day. 

The President of the Republic, 

Marshal McMahon, 

Duke of Magenta. 



56 irishmen's sons. 

Once installed in his new office McMahon 
set to work to complete the labors so 
auspiciously begun by Thiers, and to heal 
as quickly as possible the wounds inflicted 
on the nation during the war. Instalments 
of the debt to Germany were regularly 
paid, the country was relieved from the 
presence of the foreign soldiery, the finances 
were placed on a more secure footing, in- 
dustry was promoted, and peace and good 
order maintained. When the Assembly 
adjourned, the President promised that 
during the recess law and justice should 
rule paramount, and he kept his word faith- 
fully. France was never so satisfied and 
orderly as in the year of grace A. d. 1873. 
On the reopening of the Assembly, Novem- 
ber 5th in that year, President McMahon 
addressed to that body a message which read 
as follows : 

When you adjourned for the recess I told you that 
you could leave Versailles without uneasiness, and that 
during your absence nothing would occur to disturb 
the public peace. What I then announced has been 
realized. In reassembling to-day you find France at 
peace j the complete liberation of the territory is an 



57 



accomplished fact j tlie foreign army has left French 
soil 5 and onr troops have reentered the evacuated 
departments amid the patriotic joy of the population. 

The deliverance has been effected without causing 
trouble at home or awakening distress abroad. Europe 
is assured of our firm resolution to maintain peace, 
and without fear sees us again take possession of our- 
selves. I receive from all powers testimony of their 
desire to live with us on friendly terms. 

At home public order has been firmly maintained. 
A vigilant administration, confided to the function- 
aries of different political origin, but all devoted to 
the cause of order, has strictly applied existing laws. 
The administration has everywhere acted in the con- 
servative spirit which has always been manifested by 
the great majority of this Assembly, and from which, 
as far as I am concerned, I shall never depart so long 
as you intrust the Government to me. 

It is true that material tranquillity has not prevented 
agitation in the public mind. As the period of your 
reassembling approached party strife has acquired re- 
doubled intensity. This was to be expected. 

Among the matters which you yourselves indicated 
must claim your attention on resuming your labors, was 
the examination of the constitutional laws presented by 
my predecessor. 

This necessarily again brings forward the question, 
always reserved hitherto, of the definitive form of 
Government. It is not, therefore, surprising that this 
grave problem should have been raised beforehand 



58 



by various parties, ardently discussed by each in the 
sense agreeable to its particular views. I had neither 
to intervene in this discussion, nor to forestall the 
decision of your sovereign authority. My Government 
could do no more than confine the discussion within 
legal limits, and insure, under any hypothesis, absolute 
respect for your decision. 

Your power is therefore intact, and nothing can impede 
its exercise. Perhaps, however, you may think that the 
strong feeling produced by these animated discussions 
is a proof that, as facts now stand, and with the present 
state of the public mind, the establishment of any form 
of government whatever which should indefinitely bind 
the future, presents serious difficulties. You will, 
perhaps, find it to be more prudent to maintain in 
present institutions a character enabling the Government 
to surround itself, as at present, with all the friends of 
order without distinction of party. 

If you think so, permit him whom you elected to 
an honor which he did not seek, to tell you frankly his 
opinion. 

To give public peace a sure guarantee, the present 
Government lacks two essential conditions, of which you 
cannot longer leave it destitute without danger. It 
has neither sufficient vitality nor authority. Whatever 
the holder of power may be, that power can do nothing 
durable if its right to govern is daily called into 
question — if it has not before it the guarantee of a 
sufficiently long existence to spare the country the 
prospect of incessantly recurring agitation. With a 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 59 

power that might be changed at any moment, it is 
possible to secure peace to-day, but not safety for the 
morrow. 

Every great undertaking is thus rendered impossible, 
and industry languishes. France, who only asks to be 
allowed to enter upon a fresh career, is arrested in her 
development. In relation with foreign powers her 
policy cannot acquire that consistent and persevering 
spirit which alone succeeds in inspiring confidence, and 
maintains or restores the greatness of a nation. 

Stability is wanting in the present Government, and 
authority also often fails it. It is not sufficiently armed 
by the laws to discourage the factions, or even to obtain 
obedience from its own agents. The public press 
abandons itself with impunity to excesses which would 
end by corrupting the public mind throughout the 
country. Municipalities forget that they are organs of 
law, and leave the central authority without represen- 
tatives in many parts of the territory. 

You will consider these dangers, and will give to 
society a strong and durable executive power which 
will be solicitous for its future, and able to defend it 
with energy. 

This message, so terse, comprehensive, 
and well-timed, was received by every 
member of the Assembly, if we except a few 
radicals of the extreme Left, with warm 
demonstrations of approval, and at the 
instance of the members of the Right and 



60 irishmen's sons. 

Right-centre, moderate monarchists and 
conservative republicans, a committee was 
appointed to consider the expediency of 
prolonging the term of the President, 
pending the formation of a permanent 
constitution and the adoption of a definite 
form of government. Some of McMahon's 
warmest admirers were for having him 
retain his high position for life, others for 
five or ten years, while the extremists 
were utterly opposed to the whole scheme. 
The Marshal himself was of opinion that 
seven years would be sufficient for his term 
of office, both as a probable precedent 
and as affording ample time for him to re- 
store law and order and to extricate France 
from the confusion and difficulties growing 
out of the late war. Accordingly, on the 
7th of November, 1873, one of the ministers, 
the Due de Broglie, read to the Assembly a 
short message from the President, in which 
he said that it had been decided as best for 
the interests of the country to ask of the 
Assembly the prolongation of the powers of 
the present Executive for seven years. He 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 61 



deemed it his duty to indicate the guaran- 
tees without which it would be improvident 
for him to accept the task of governing' the 
country. He pointed out the bad effect 
of a postponement of the beginning of the 
prolongation until after the constitutional 
bills were voted. Such a course would 
diminish his authority, and render it the 
more uncertain. He expressed the strongest 
desire for a speedy discussion of the con- 
stitutional bills. If his term were prolonged, 
he would use the powers granted in the 
defence of conservative ideas, which, he was 
convinced, were those of the majority of 
the nation. After the adjournment Ministers 
De Broglie, Batbie, and Ernoul attended a 
meeting of the committee on prolongation, 
and submitted the propositions of the Presi- 
dent's message. The committee consented 
to the term of seven years, but refused to 
yield on other points. 

On the 18th, in the Assembly, General 
Changarnier presented the motion agreed 
upon by the Eight for the unconditional 
prolongation of President McMahon's 



62 irishmen's sons. 

powers. A long and stormy debate followed, 
but without a division. On the following 
day the debate was continued on Chan- 
garnier's motion for the unconditional 
prolongation of the President's powers. 
M. Rouher moved that the question be 
referred to a plebiscite, and advocated his 
motion in a speech in which he hinted that 
Providence might in time restore the Bona- 
partes to power. The excitement over these 
remarks temporarily suspended the pro- 
ceedings of the session. A vote upon M. 
Rouher's motion was finally taken, and it 
was rejected by a vote of 499 to 88. After 
an adjournment, the Assembly, as if con- 
scious of the gravity of the task before 
them, held a night session which lasted 
till midnight. M. Deperge, a member of 
the Right, moved an amendment to the 
report of the committee on prolongation, 
providing that President McMahon's powers 
be prolonged seven years, independently 
of the adoption of the constitutional bills. 
MM. Laboulaye, Grevy, and others, oppos- 
ed the amendment, but it was adopted by a 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 63 



majority of 66. A motion was then made 
on the part of the Right that a Committee 
of Thirty be appointed to report on the 
constitutional bills. This was adopted by a 
majority of 68 votes. 

Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour 
at which this important decision was 
reached — one of the most important events 
that has transpired in the political history 
of the country for many years — the news 
soon spread throughout Paris, and caused 
general rejoicing among all classes, always 
of course leaving out the disorderly and 
criminal. Men who had anything at stake, 
either reputation, property, or the produc- 
tions of their individual skill and manual 
labor, breathed more freely, and congratu- 
lated each other that the Executive of the 
nation was in the hands of one who was as 
wise as he was patriotic, and who, while 
consulting the best interests of France, 
would sternly repress disorder and fanati- 
cism in whatever form presented. Im- 
mediately after the prolongation of his term 
the President was waited on by the mem- 



64 irishmen's sons. 

bers of his cabinet, who went through the 
ceremony of tendering their resignation, 
which he refused to accept, and requested 
them to retain their portfolios and assist 
him in the transaction of public affairs as 
formerly. They consented. On the follow- 
ing day the members of the diplomatic 
corps waited on his Excellency and pre- 
sented to him their congratulations. 

Thus while the people as a body are 
delighted with the action of their represent- 
atives, all classes, directly or indirectly 
interested in the rejuvenation of the Republic 
appear thoroughly satisfied. The republicans 
are content; the sensible royalists prefer 
him to any ruler other than one of their 
many special candidates ; the imperialists 
have confidence in his moderation and 
prudence, while the army, with which he has 
always been a great favorite, is overjoyed at 
the civic honors conferred on the hero of 
Magenta. Even the Comte de Chambord, 
" Henry V, " who holds himself the rightful 
heir to the throne, cannot allude to the 
gallant Marshal but in terms of the highest 



McMAHON, DUKE OF MAGENTA. 65 

praise. In a late letter to M. Chesnelong, 
he refers to McMahon in right royal par- 
lance, as the modern Bayard who has drawn 
his sword in a hundred battles for France. 

Marshal McMahon, though in his sixty- 
fifth year, is still remarkably robust, and in 
the complete possession of his physical 
and mental faculties. In figure he is some- 
what above the middle size, meagre, well 
knit, and erect, though bearing evident 
marks of the many hardships he has en- 
dured and wounds received. His features 
wear the impress of his nationality; keen 
gray eyes, short nose, well-formed mouth 
and chin, and cheek-bones rather angular 
and prominent. In 1853 he was married to 
a daughter of the Due de Castres, by whom 
he has had children ; one of whom, a son, 
having lately visited Ireland, was very 
warmly received by the Nationalists there. 
The Duchess of Magenta is represented as 
a lady still in the bloom and health of happy 
middle-age, and remarkable not only for 
her graces and accomplishments but for her 

gentle and unceasing charity. 
3 



66 irishmen's sons. 

And so we find the President has not only- 
been successful in arms, but equally fortu- 
nate in matrimony ; and, in entering on his 
new career as civil ruler of the first nation 
in Europe there are few in either hemisphere 
who do not wish that his martial and social 
good fortune may be but a prelude to a 
more brilliant career and even more en- 
during fame. No matter what faults France 
may have exhibited in the past or what 
mistakes she has undoubtedly committed in 
in the present, she is still the best loved nation 
in the world. We speak not now of Ireland, 
with whom she has been an ancient ally, 
nor of the United States, whose friendship 
for her dates from our birth as a Republic, 
but of civilized communities generally, who 
cannot help admiring her soldiers, states- 
men, artists, and scholars ; who sympathize 
with her misfortunes, and are made glad in 
her elevation, and who will doubtless find 
occasion to feel proud of her new govern- 
ment, when guided by the firm hand of the 
grandson of an Irish exile, and a devoted 
French soldier and statesman. 



ANDREW JACKSON, 

SEVENTH PKESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Of the large number of Americans dis- 
tinguished in war or peace, always ex- 
cepting the great man who has been justly 
styled Pater Patrice, of which our Repub- 
lic can be truly proud, one of the foremost 
in merit and decidedly the most remarka- 
ble in origin, character, and originality, was 
Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the 
United States. Doubtless we have had 
greater generals, successful in wider spheres 
of action, and statesmen more accomplished 
and profound, but our history presents 
none who united in himself, in so high a 
degree, those great and varied, though so 
dissimilar, qualities which are indispensable 
for the formation of a conqueror, or for the 
civil ruler of a great nation. 

Born of humble Irish emigrant parents 
A. D. 1767, in the remote Waxhaw settle- 



68 irishmen's sons. 

ments of North Carolina, ere he had passed 
his boyhood he was left an orphan, without 
a relative or friend in that wild region, 
and, as we can well suppose, with little 
worldly goods. Shortly before his birth, his 
father, a native Carrickfergus, in the county 
of Antrim, died, and a few years after, his 
mother, a woman, it is said, of singular 
strength of mind and overflowing charity, 
fell a victim to her devotion to the wants of 
the fever-stricken patriot prisoners confined 
in the jails of Charleston, S. C, by the 
British. His two brothers, older than him- 
self, bravely fought and nobly fell in support 
of the country of their adoption, for they 
were not born on this continent. Indeed the 
whole family seems to have been imbued 
with an intense spirit of military patriotism, 
for in 1780, we find young Andrew himself 
in the ranks of the Continental army, where 
he remained till victory crowned the long 
and desperate efforts of the United Colonies. 
For some years after, the young orphan 
cultivated the arts of peace under very 
adverse circumstances ; sometimes engaged 



ANDREW JACKSON. 69 

in agriculture, and at others in those mul- 
tifarious pursuits which the sturdy back- 
woodsman knows so well how to adopt as 
a means of gaining a livelihood. It was 
while thus engaged that he laid the founda- 
tion of that sturdy, rugged physical con- 
stitution which enabled him in after years 
to perform a vast amount of work without 
mental or bodily fatigue, and to endure 
hardships almost incredible with little in- 
convenience. But he was not content to 
occupy always this obscure station in life. 
His ambition took a nobler flight, and, con- 
scious of his own innate powers, he sought to 
improve his mind as well as to sustain his 
body. As far as his limited means would 
allow, and the scant opportunities for mental 
improvement which that wild district pre- 
sented, he labored assiduously to acquire at 
least some knowledge of the language and 
institutions of his country. This partially 
accomplished, he commenced the study of 
law with Judge McKay, and afterwards re- 
moved with John McNairy to Tennessee. 
Though ill prepared by early training 



70 irishmen's sons. 

or previous legal practice, but with an un- 
bending will, ever his chief characteristic, 
we find him in his new home rapidly ad- 
vancing to success, gaining so much, step by- 
step, in public confidence, that before the 
close of the century he occupied a seat on 
the bench of the Supreme Court, the high- 
est tribunal in the state. " The first time I 
saw General Jiickson," writes a distinguished 
friend of his, afterwards United States Sena- 
tor, "was at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1799 — 
he on the bench, a judge of the then Supe- 
rior Court, and I, a youth of seventeen, back 
in the crowd. He was then a remark- 
able man, and had his ascendant over 
all who approached him, not the effect of 
his high judicial station, nor of the sena- 
torial rank which he had held and resigned ; 
nor of military exploits, for he had not then 
been to war; but the effect of personal 
qualities : cordial and graceful manners, 
hospitable temper, elevation of mind, un- 
daunted spirit, generosity, and perfect integ- 
rity. In charging the jury in the impending 
case, he committed a slight solecism in 



ANDREW JACKSON. 71 

language, which grated on my ear, and 
lodged on my memory, without derogating 
in the least from the respect which he in- 
spired ; and without awakening the slightest 
suspicion thai I was ever to be engaged in 
smoothing his diction. The first time I 
spoke with him was some years after, at a 
(then) frontier town in Tennessee, when he 
was returning' from a Southern visit, which 
brought him through the towns and camps 
of some of the Indian tribes. In pulling off 
his overcoat, I perceived on the white lining 
of the turning down sleeve, a dark speck, 
which had life and motion. I brushed it off, 
and put the heel of my shoe upon it — little 
thinking that I was ever to brush away from 
him game of a very different kind. He 
smiled; and we began a conversation in 
which he very quickly revealed a leading 
trait of his character — that of encouraging 
3^oung men in their laudable pursuits. 
Getting my name and parentage, and 
learning my intended profession, he mani- 
fested a regard for me, said he had re- 
ceived hospitality at my father's house in 



72 irishmen's sons. 

North Carolina, gave me kind invitations 
to visit him ; and expressed a belief that I 
would do well at the bar — generous words, 
which had the effect of promoting what 
they undertook to foretell. Soon after, 
he had further opportunity to show his 
generous feelings. I was employed in a 
criminal case of great magnitude, where the 
oldest and ablest counsel appeared — Hay- 
wood, Grundy, Whiteside — and the trial of 
which General Jackson attended through 
concern for the fate of a friend. As junior 
counsel I had to precede my elders, and did 
my best; and, it being on the side of his 
feelings, he found my effort to be better 
than it was. He complimented me greatly, 
and from that time our intimacy began." 

He had previously been elected Represent- 
ative in 1796, and Senator in 1797, but he 
resigned all these positions for the attractions 
of private life, and retired to his splendid 
farm of two thousand acres, known as the 
"Hermitage," about twelve miles from 
Nashville, where, in the society of his 
amiable wife and her young relatives, and 



ANDREW JACKSON. 73 

surrounded by a host of sincere friends, he 
resolved to pass the remainder of his days 
far from the bustle and excitement of the 
political arena. But fate had not so willed 
it. His repose was soon to be disturbed, 
and his secluded home to be invaded by 
the clang of arms, and the voice of his 
imperilled countrymen. The " Hermitage," 
was no longer to be a place devoted to 
quietness and retirement, but to become, in 
all future times, the shrine at which many a 
political pilgrim and devotee loved to visit. 
In 1812 the tocsin of war was sounded 
throughout the land from end to end. 
England and her Indian allies, the bar- 
barians of the old and new world, again 
menacing the integrity of the Young Re- 
public, were to be once more defied, fought, 
and defeated, and Jackson, who, at the age 
of thirteen, had shouldered his gun in the 
same good cause, was not the man to stand 
idle while his country was in danger. I 
was while at the Hermitage, surrounded 1 
his family and friends and in the em 
ment of all that material comfort an 



/4 irishmen's sons. 

mestic harmony could bestow, that the 
summons reached him; he had been ap- 
pointed Major- General of the Militia of his 
State in 1801, and was required to not only 
lead but raise the quota of Tennessee ; and, 
like a second Cincinnatus, he cheerfully 
left the plough in the furrow and took up the 
sword of the warrior. The General Govern- 
ment also commissioned him Brigadier- Gen- 
eral, and, two years after, he was promoted 
to the rank of Major- General of Regulars. 

The former choice, in all respects, though 
effected by a majority of one, was most 
judicious. He had many friends in the 
neighborhood, whose confidence in his 
ability to execute the duties of any 
office which he assumed was unlimited. 
He quickly raised a corps of volunteers 
and commenced operations against the 
Creek Indians, then in alliance with 
England, whom, after marches of incredible 
Mfficulty and many battles and minor en- 

unters, he completely subdued. Of the 

ier the most important and decisive was 

of Tohopeka, fought April, 1814, 



ANDREW JACKSON. 75 

in which the savages were almost completely 
annihilated ; the last and principal charge 
on them being led by a gallant Irishman, of 
whom Jackson says, "the militia of the 
venerable General Dougherty's brigade 
acted in the charge with a vivacity and 
firmness which would have done honor to 
regulars." 

After the declaration of war in 1812, the 
first series of engagements between the con- 
tending forces took place on the Canadian 
frontier, at the beginning with doubtful 
success ; but eventually the tide of victory 
turned in favor of the Americans. The 
same result occurred to the allies of the 
British, the Creeks, but the national cause in 
this case was, as we have seen, much more 
triumphantly sustained. The next move 
was against our centre. Havre-de-Grace, 
Maryland, having been attacked in May, 
1813, and in the August of the following 
year the battle of Bladensburg was fought, 
and the city of Washington burned by the 
English. But their victory was a barren 
one; and Eoss, their general, having been 



76 irishmen's sons. 

slain, they transferred their scene of opera- 
tions farther south. On the 22 d of Decem- 
ber, 1814, General Packenham appeared in 
the neighborhood of New Orleans, with 
about fourteen thousand veteran troops, well 
anned and equipped, thoroughly officered, 
and supported by a large flotilla and some 
vessels of war. In the meantime Major- 
General Jackson, then commanding the 
seventh division, was ordered to march to 
the relief of the menaced city; which he did 
with his usual promptness and celerity, 
though all the troops he could muster did 
not number six thousand, some of whom 
were militia who had served under him in 
Ins Indian war, but the majority were raw 
levies from Tennessee, Kentucky, and 
Mississippi. 

It may well be imagined that a contest 
between forces so unequally matched could 
have but one result, and that result far dif- 
ferent from the actual one. Of the first 
encounter, which took place December 
23 d, the hero himself modestly writes to 
President Monroe : 



ANDREW JACKSON. 77 

"The loss of our gun-boats near the pass of the 
Rigolets having given the enemy command of Lake 
Borgne, he was enabled to choose his point of attack. 
It became, therefore, an object of importance to obstruct 
the numerous bayous and canals leading from that lake 
to the highlands on the Mississippi. This important 
service was committed, in the first instance, to a de- 
tachment of the Seventh regiment ; afterwards to Col. 
De Laronde, of the Louisiana militia, and, lastly, to 
make all sure, to Major- General Villere, commanding 
the district between the river and the lakes, and who, 
being a native of the country, was presumed to be best 
acquainted with all those passes. Unfortunately, how- 
ever, a picquet which the general had established at the 
mouth of the Bayou Bienvenue, and which, notwith- 
standing my orders, had been left unobstructed, was 
completely surprised, and the enemy penetrated through 
a canal leading to a farm, about two leagues below the 
city, and succeeded in cutting off a company of militia 
stationed there. This intelligence was communicated 
to me about twelve o'clock of the 23d. My force 
at this time consisted of parts of the Seventh and 
Forty-fourth regiments, not exceeding six hundred to- 
gether, the city militia, a part of General Coffee's bri- 
gade of mounted gunmen, and the detached militia from 
the western division of Tennessee, under the command 
of Major-General Carroll. These two last corps were 
stationed four miles above the city. Apprehending a 
double attack by the way of Chief-Menteur, I left Gen 
eral Carroll's force and the militia of the city posted on 



78 irishmen's sons. 

the Gentilly road ; and at five o'clock P. m. marched 
to meet the enemy, whom I was resolved to attack in 
his first position, with Major Hinds's dragoons, General 
Coffee's brigade, parts of the Seventh and Forty-fourth 
regiments, the uniformed companies of militia, under the 
command of Major Planche, two hundred men of color, 
chiefly from St. Domingo, raised by Colonel Savary, 
and under the command of Major Dagwin, and a de- 
tachment of artillery under the direction of Colonel 
M'Rhea, with two six-pounders, under the command of 
Lieutenant Spotts; not exceeding, in all, fifteen 
hundred. I arrived near the enemy's encampment 
about seven, and immediately made my dispositions for 
the attack. His forces, amounting at that time on land 
to about three thousand, extended half a mile on that 
river, and in the rear nearly to the wood. General Cof- 
fee was ordered to turn their right, while, with the resi- 
due of the force, I attacked his strongest position on the 
left, near the river. Commodore Patterson, having 
dropped down the river in the schooner Caroline, was 
directed to open afire upon their camp, which he executed 
at about half-past seven. This being a signal of attack, 
General Coffee's men, with their usual impetuosity, 
rushed on the enemy's right, and entered their camp, 
while our right advanced with equal ardor. There can 
be but little doubt that we should have succeeded on 
that occasion, with our inferior force, in destroying or 
capturing the enemy, had not a thick fog, which arose 
about eight o'clock, occasioned some confusion among 
the different corps. Fearing the consequence, under 



ANDREW JACKSON. 79 

this circumstance, of the further prosecution of a night 
attack, with troops then acting together for the first 
time, I contented myself with lying on the field that 
night ; and at four in the morning assumed a stronger 
position, about two miles nearer the city. At this posi- 
tion I remained encamped, waiting the arrival of the 
Kentucky militia and other reinforcements. As the 
safety of the city will depend on the fate of this army, 
it must not be incautiously exposed. 

" In this affair the whole corps under my command 
deserve the greatest credit. The best compliment I 
can pay to General Coffee and his brigade is, to say 
they have behaved as they have always done while 
under my command. The Seventh, led by Major Pierre, 
and Forty-fourth, commanded by Colonel Ross, dis- 
tinguished themselves. The battalion of city militia, 
commanded by Major Planche, realized my anticipations, 
and behaved like veterans. Savary's volunteers mani- 
fested great bravery j and the company of city riflemen, 
having penetrated into the midst of the enemy's camp, 
were surrounded, and fought their way out with the 
greatest heroism, bringing with them a number of 
prisoners. The two field-pieces were well served by 
the officers commanding them. 

''All my officers in the line did their duty, and I 
have every reason to be satisfied with the whole of my 
field and staff. Colonels Butler and Piatt, and Major 
Chotard, by their intrepidity, saved the artillery. 
Colonel Haynes was everywhere that duty or danger 
called. I was deprived of the services of one of my 



80 

aids, Captain Butler, whom I was obliged to station, 
to his great regret, in town. Captain Reid, my other 
aid, and Messrs. Livingston, Duplissis, and Davezac, 
who had volunteered their services, faced danger wher- 
ever it was to be met, and carried my orders with the 
utmost promptitude. 

" We made one major, two subalterns, and sixty-three 
privates, prisoners ; and the enemy's loss, in killed and 

wounded, must have been at least . My own loss 

I have not as yet been able to ascertain with exactness, 
but suppose it to amount to one hundred in killed, 
wounded, and missing. Among the former, I have to 
lament the loss of Colonel Lauderdale, of General 
Coffee's brigade, who fell while bravely fighting. Cols. 
Dyer and Gibson, of the same corps, were wounded, and 
Major Kavenaugh taken prisoner. 

" Colonel De Laronde, Major Villere, of the Louisiana 
militia, Major Latour of Engineers, having no command, 
volunteered their services, as did Drs. Kerr and Hood, 
and were of great assistance to me." 

Of the great battle, that of the 8th of 
January, 1815, the following graphic, yet 
glowing description, from the pen of a con- 
temporary writer thoroughly master of his 
subject will be found of even greater 
interest : 

" On the seventh, a general movement and bustle in 
the British camp indicated that the contemplated attack 



ANDREW JACKSON. 81 

was about to be made. Everything in the American 
encampment was ready for action, when, at daybreak, 
on the morning of the memorable eighth, a shower of 
rockets from the enemy gave the signal of battle. A 
detachment of the enemy, under Colonel Thornton, 
proceeded to attack the works on the right bank of the 
river, while General Pakenham, with his whole force, 
exceeding twelve thousand men, moved in two divisions 
under Generals Gibbs and Kean, and a reserve under 
General Lambert. Both divisions were supplied with 
scaling-ladders and fascines, and General Gibbs had 
directions to make the principal attack. Nothing could 
exceed the imposing grandeur of the scene. The whole 
British force advanced with much deliberation, in solid 
columns, over the even surface of the plain in front of 
the American intrenchments, bearing with them, in addi- 
tion to their arms, their fascines and ladders for storming 
the American works. All was hushed in awful stillness 
throughout the American lines; each soldier grasped 
his arms with a fixedness of purpose, which told his 
firm resolve to l do or die ; 7 till the enemy approached 
within reach of the batteries, which opened upon them an 
incessant and destructive tide of death. They con- 
tinued, however, to advance with the greatest firmness, 
closing up their lines as they were opened by the fire 
of the Americans, till they approached within reach of 
the musketry and rifles; these, in addition to the 
artillery, produced the most terrible havoc in their ranks, 
and threw them into the greatest confusion. Twice 
were they driven back with immense slaughter, and 



82 



twice they formed again and renewed the assault. But 
the fire of the Americans was tremendous ; it was un- 
paralleled in the annals of deadly doing; it was one 
continued blaze of destruction^ before which men could 
not stand and live. Every discharge swept away the 
British columns like an inundation — they could not 
withstand it, but fled in consternation and dismay. 
Vigorous were the attempts of their officers to rally 
them j General Pakenham, in the attempt, received a 
shot, and fell upon the field. Generals Gibbs and Kean 
succeeded, and attempted again to push on their columns 
to the attack, but a still more dreadful fatality met them 
from the thunders of the American batteries. A third 
unavailing attempt was made to rally their troops by 
their officers, but the same destruction met them. The 
gallantry of the British officers, on this desperate day, 
was deserving of a worthier cause and better fate. 
General Gibbs fell mortally, and General Kean des- 
perately wounded, and were borne from the field of 
action. The discomfiture of the enemy was now com- 
plete; a few only of the platoons reached the ditch, 
there to meet more certain death. The remainder fled 
from the field with the greatest precipitancy, and no 
further efforts were made to rally them. The intervening 
plain between the American and British fortifications 
was covered with the dead ; taking into view the length 
of time and the numbers engaged, the annals of bloody 
strife, it is believed, furnish no parallel to the dreadful 
carnage of this battle. Two thousand, at the lowest 
estimate, fell, besides a considerable number wounded. 



ANDREW JACKSON. 83 

The loss of the Americans did not exceed seven killed 
and six wounded. General Lambert was the only 
superior officer left on the field ; being unable to check 
the flight of the British columns, he retreated to his en- 
campment." 

We cannot better close an account of this, 
Jackson's, grandest military achievement, 
than by quoting the terse reply of Senator 
Thomas Benton to Monsieur de Tocqueville, 
a propos of the victory and the victor : u It 
was no ordinary achievement. It was a vic- 
tory of 4,600 citizens just called from their 
homes, without knowledge of scientific war, 
under a leader as little schooled as them- 
selves in that' particular, without other ad- 
vantages than a slight field-work (a ditch 
and a bank of earth) hastily thrown up — 
over double their numbers of British veter- 
ans, survivors of the wars of the French 
Revolution, victors in the Peninsula and at 
Toulouse, under trained generals of the 
Wellington school, and with a disparity 
of loss never before witnessed. On one 
side 700 killed (including the first, second, 
and third generals); 1,400 wounded; 500* 



84 irishmen's sons. 

taken prisoners. On the other, six privates 
killed, and seven wounded ; and the total 
repulse of an invading army which instantly 
fled to its ' wooden walls,' and never again 
placed a hostile foot on American soil. 
Such an achievement is not ordinary, much 
less 'very' ordinary. Does Monsieur de 
Tocqueville judge the importance of victories 
by the numbers engaged, and the quantity 
of blood shed, or by their consequences I 
If the former, the cannonade on the heights 
of Valmy (which was not a battle, nor even 
a combat, but a distant cannon firing in 
which few were hurt), must seem to him a 
very insignificant affair. Yet it did what 
the marvellous victories of Champaubert, 
Montmirail, Chateau-Thierry, Vauchamps, 
and Montereau could not do — turned back 
the invader, and saved the soil of France 
from the iron hoof of the conqueror's horse ! 
and was commemorated twelve years after- 
wards by the great emperor in a ducal title 
bestowed upon one of its generals. The 
victory at New Orleans did what the can- 
nonade at Valmy did — drove back the 



ANDREW JACKSON. 85 

i invader ! and also what it did not do — de- 
stroyed the one fourth part of his force. And, 
therefore, it is not to be disparaged, and 
will not be, by any one who judges victo- 
ries by their consequences, instead of by 
the numbers engaged. And so the victory 
at New Orleans will remain in history as 
one of the great achievements of the world, 
in spite of the low opinion which the writer 
on American democracy entertains of it." 

In those days of slow communication the 
news of this great victory only reached 
Washington on the 4th of February ; and, 
as might be expected, caused intense and 
universal joy, not only in the national capi- 
tal but throughout the entire country. Con- 
gress unanimously passed a vote of thanks 
to the victor and his subordinates, and or- 
dered a gold medal to be struck and pre- 
sented to the general, commemorative of the 
event. The populace, also, independent 
of all party affiliations, expressed in the most 
enthusiastic terms their admiration for the 
hero of New Orleans and his gallant little 
army. The press of the day, such as it 



86 irishmen's sons. 

was, taxed its utmost energies to laud his 
bravery and skill ; patriotic gatherings 
passed glowing resolutions of commenda- 
tion, and toasts were ever} 7 where drank in 
his honor. 

This jubilant state of public feeling was 
still more heightened by the arrival, a few 
days after, of a ship at New York, with news 
of the ratification of the treaty of Ghent, by 
which peace between the United States and 
England was again restored, and the de- 
mands of the former country substantially 
conceded. It is worthy of notice that this 
treaty was signed in December, 1814; so 
that in fact the respective nations of Jackson 
and Packenham, on the day of the battle of 
New Orleans, were no longer enemies ; but 
the vessel employed to bring the intelligence 
to our shores was delayed by storms and 
adverse winds and only succeeded in mak- 
ing her port on the 11th of February, 1815. 

Jackson remained in New Orleans three 
months after the battle. Like a prudent and 
humane commander his first care was for 
his wounded and almost naked troops, and 



ANDREW JACKSON. 87 

in this he was most zealously and efficient- 
ly assisted by the citizens. Private houses 
were thrown open for the reception of the 
sufferers ; blankets, mattresses, and clothing 
of every description were cheerfully and 
voluntarily supplied ; and all classes and 
sexes vied, one with the other, in their 
attention to the brave men who had de- 
fended their homes and liberties. When 
the enemy had disappeared and all danger 
of his return had vanished, the troops were 
removed from the city to a more salubrious 
position. 

It is needless to say that at that time the 
population of New Orleans, mostly French 
or of French origin, were, almost without 
exception, Catholic, and their devotion to 
the cause of the United States was no doubt 
heightened by their national and religious 
antipathy to England ; then, as ever, the 
most bitter persecutor of the Church. An 
incident which occurred on the eve of the 
battle of the 8th well illustrates this feeling. 
It was related many years after, at a celebra- 
tion meeting, by Mr. Livingston, a United 



88 irishmen's sons. 

States senator, who was a participant in the 
action. He said : 

" In the city of New Orleans is a con- 
vent in which a number of respectable 
ladies have dedicated their lives to the 
practice of piety, to the education of poor 
children of their own sex, and to works 
of charity. This pious sisterhood were 
awakened from their rest, or disturbed in 
their holy vigils, before the dawn of the 8th 
of January, by the roar of cannon and 
volleys of musketry. The calendar which 
pointed out the prayers of the day was 
hastily opened, and indicated the auspicious 
name of St. Victoria. They hailed the 
omen, and prostrate on the pavement which 
'holy knees had worn,' implored the God of 
Battles to nerve the arm of their protectors 
and turn the tide of combat against the in- 
vaders of their country. Their prayers were 
heard. And, while they daily offer up their 
thanks to the Power to whose aid they 
ascribe their deliverance, they have not been 
unmindful of him who was chosen as the 
instrument to effect it." 



ANDREW JACKSON. 89 

Though by no means a religious man, 
much less a zealot, Jackson could not but 
ascribe his unexpected triumph to an 
agency higher than any mere human means. 
Accordingly, as soon as his wounded were 
attended to and his famished men fed and 
clothed, he addressed to the Abbe' Dubourg 
a request, couched in most appropriate and 
Christian terms, that he would cause a Te 
Deum to be sung in the cathedral, in thanks- 
giving for the victory. The favor was 
cheerfully granted, and on the 23d of 
January the citizens of New Orleans wit- 
nessed a spectacle such as had never been 
seen in its streets before or subsequently. 
The avenue to the cathedral was lined with 
spectators in holiday garb, the houses on 
either side being decorated with garlands 
and flags, while at intervals, floral arches 
of triumph were thrown across from house 
to house. Up this street came Jackson in, 
full uniform, attended by his staff and 
many of his officers, and escorted by 
the most prominent citizens. At the 
vestibule of the church he was met by 



90 



the venerable Abbe', in full canonicals, 
and welcomed in a brief, but highly eulo- 
gistic and dignified address. The General 
replied in a similar strain and the whole 
party entered the cathedral, when the 
noblest hymn of the Catholic Church was 
chanted, its notes of gratitude and exalta- 
tion finding a responsive echo in thou- 
sands of grateful hearts. 

Jackson departed for his home, in April, 
having pre viously been the recipient of every 
honor and favor that an enthusiastic and 
warm-hearted people could bestow. With 
the ladies in particular he seems to have 
been an especial favorite, and they were 
never tired of showing their appreciation 
of the services he had rendered them, and 
to Mrs. Jackson, who came down to visit her 
husband, they were particularly hospitable 
and attentive. Their delicacy and kindness 
in this respect were more grateful to the Gen- 
eral than any compliment they could have 
paid himself. 

After four months' rest at the Hermitage, 
Jackson proceeded to Washington City by 



ANDREW JACKSON. 91 

easy stages ; for his health, which had been 
exceedingly precarious at the breaking out 
of the war, was even more enfeebled by 
exposure and privation in the field. Every 
town, village, and hamlet through which he 
passed on his route received him with the 
greatest enthusiasm, and the few large cities 
which at that time lay between Nashville 
and the capital serenaded and feted him to 
such a degree that he was glad to escape so 
oppressive but well-meant attentions. 

On arriving at his destination he was 
very cordially received by the Executive, 
and confirmed in his rank of Major-Gener- 
al, with the command of the south-west. 
The members of both branches of Congress, 
also, were unremitting in their politeness, 
some from a sense, no doubt, of his popularity 
and growing influence in public affairs, and 
others from higher motives. He did not, 
however, remain long in Washington, for we 
find him at his headquarters in Nashville, in 
October of the following year, having turned 
aside from his homeward journey to visit the 
Indian country and some of the more im- 



92 irishmen's sons. 

portant posts of his command. In March, 
1817, on the accession of Mr. Monroe to the 
presidency, he was offered the position of 
Secretary of War, but declined it, from a 
conviction that he was more useful to the 
country in his present capacity. He fore- 
saw that an Indian war was imminent, and 
was resolved to command in it. 

His foresight, as usual, was correct. In 
this very year the Seminoles of Florida, 
a very powerful and warlike tribe, instigated 
by a Scotch trader named Arbuthnot, an 
English ex-midshipman named Ambrister, 
and several other adventurers from the 
neighboring Bahamas, commenced depreda- 
tions on the settlers of the frontiers of 
Georgia, during which a great many white 
men were mercilessly slaughtered, and those 
taken captive put to death with inhuman 
tortures. General Gaines at first endeavored 
to check the savages, and to some extent 
succeeded, but Jackson was convinced 
that no half measures would ever succeed 
against so wily and implacable an enemy. 
The foe must not only be beaten out 



ANDREW JACKSON. 93 

of Georgia, but pursued and destroyed 
in Florida, before peace could be perma- 
nently restored. 

Florida at that time was a colony of 
Spain, a country at peace with ours, and 
an armed invasion of its soil, under ordinary 
circumstances, would of course be a breach 
of the law of nations and a violation of our 
treaty stipulations. But the circumstances 
were not ordinary. A part of it around 
Negro Point was held by an armed force of 
runaway negroes ; and another, Pensacola, 
by Scotch and English filibusters ; while the 
Seminoles, supplied by the latter with arms 
and ammunition, invaded at pleasure the 
Georgian frontiers and, when beaten back, 
took refuge under the guns of one or 
other fort. The Spanish Captain-General 
was unable or unwilling to keep those 
lawless banditti in order, so it became the 
duty of our Government, in protecting the 
lives and property of its citizens, to take 
the matter into its own hands. 

General Jackson saw the necessity of 
such a decisive step, but, unwilling to 



94 irishmen's sons. 

involve the country in a foreign dispute, 
proposed u to take the responsibility" on 
himself. He therefore wrote a confidential 
letter to the President, in which the follow- 
ing significant paragraphs occur : 

" The Executive Government have order- 
ed, and, as I conceive, very properly, Amelia 
Island to be taken possession of. This 
order ought to be carried into execution at 
all hazards, and simultaneously the whole 
of East Florida seized and held as an in- 
demnity for the outrages of Spain upon the 
property of our citizens. This done, it 
puts all opposition down, secures our citi- 
zens a complete indemnity, and saves us 
from a war with Great Britain, or some of 
the Continental powers, combined with 
Spain. This can be done without implicat- 
ing the government. Let it be signified to 
me through any channel (say Mr. J. Rhea), 
that the possession of the Floridas would be 
desirable to the United States, and in sixty 
days it will be accomplished. 

"The order being given for the possession 
of Amelia Island, it ought to be executed, or 



ANDREW JACKSON. 95 

our enemies, internal and external, will use 
it to the disadvantage of the government. 
If our troops enter the territory of Spain in 
pursuit of our Indian enemy, all opposition 
that they meet with must be put down, or 
we will be involved in danger and dis- 
grace." 

" In accordance with the advice of Mr. 
Calhoun," says Jackson himself, in his " Ex- 
position," " and availing himself of the 
suggestion contained in the letter, Mr. Mon- 
roe sent for Mr. John Rhea (then a member 
of Congress), showed him the confidential 
letter, and requested him to answer it. In 
conformity with this request Mr. Rhea did 
answer the letter, and informed General 
Jackson that the President had shown him 
the confidential letter, and requested him to 
state that he approved of its suggestions. 
This answer was received by the General on 
the second night he remained at Big Creek, 
which is four miles in advance of Hartford, 
Georgia, and before his arrival at Fort 
Scott, to take command of the troops in 
that quarter." 



96 irishmen's sons. 

The Secretary of War, Calhoun, also sent 
orders directly to General Jackson "to 
adopt the necessary measures to put an end 
to the conflict without regard to territorial 
lines or Spanish forts." And yet for this very 
invasion of Florida, Jackson was not only 
severely blamed, but the Secretary, who had 
countenanced the measure, was the first, in 
cabinet council, to advise his trial by court- 
martial; and, this afterwards becoming 
known, led to the rupture between them in 
1831, when President and Vice-President. 
The General's statement of his position at 
that time is terse and to the point. He 
writes : 

" Having received further details of my 
preparations, not only to terminate the 
Seminole war, but, as the President and 
his Secretary well knew, to occupy Florida 
also, Mr. Calhoun on the 6th February 
writes as follows : 

" ' I have the honor to acknowledge the 
receipt of your letter of the 20th uli, and to 
acquaint you with the entire approbation 
of the President of all the measures you 



ANDREW JACKSON. 97 

have adopted to terminate the rupture with 
the Indians. 7 

" On the 13 th of May folio wing, with a 
full knowledge that I intended, if a favorable 
occasion presented itself, to occujdv Florida, 
and that the design had the approbation of 
the President, Mr. Calhoun wrote to Govern- 
or Bibb, of Alabama, the letter already al- 
luded to, concluding as follows : 

" l General Jackson is vested with full 
powers to conduct the war in the manner he 
may deem best.' 

" On the 25th of March, 1818, 1 informed 
Mr. Calhoun that I intended to occupy St. 
Mark's, and on the 8th of April I informed 
him that it was done. 

" Not a whisper of disapprobation or of 
doubt reached me from the government. 

" On the 5th May I wrote to Mr. Calhoun 
that I was about to move upon Pensacola 
with a view of occupying that place. 

" Again, no reply was ever given disap- 
proving or discountenancing this movement. 

"On the 2d of June I informed Mr. 
Calhoun that I had on the 24th May en- 



98 irishmen's sons. 

tered Pensacola, and on the 28th had 
received the surrender of the Barrancas. 

" Again no reply was given to this letter, 
expressing any disapproval of these acts. 

" In fine, from the receipt of the Presi- 
dent's reply to my confidential letter of 6th 
January, 1818, through Mr. Rhea, until the 
receipt of the President's private letter, 
dated 19th July, 1818, I received no in- 
structions or intimation from the govern- 
ment, public or private, that my opera- 
tions in Florida were other than such as 
the President and Secretary of War ex- 
pected and approved. I had not a doubt 
that I had acted in every respect in strict 
accordance with their views, and that with- 
out publicly avowing that they had au- 
thorized my measures, they were ready 
at all times and under all circumstances 
to sustain me ; and that as there were 
sound reasons and justifiable cause for tak- 
ing possession of Florida, they would, in 
pursuance of their private understanding 
with me, retain it as indemnity for the 
spoliations committed by Spanish subjects 



ANDREW JACKSON. 99 

on our citizens, and as security for the 
peace of our Southern frontier. 

Acting under instructions, General Jack- 
son left Nashville in January, 1818, and 
reached the seat of operations in March 
following. His troops consisted of eight 
hundred regulars, one thousand militia, and 
some Tennessee volunteers, whom he had 
raised on his own responsibility. His 
movements were rapid. On April 4th he 
took St. Mark's and shortly after Pensacola, 
and while in the former place Arbuthnot 
and Ambrister, the evil genii of the Semi- 
noles, having been captured, were court- 
martialled and, in accordance with the find- 
ings of the court, were executed. Jackson 
returned to Fort Gadsden in May, but, ob- 
taining information that Pensacola had 
again become a refugium peccatorum,, he 
marched again on that place, occupied it 
permanently with a detachment of his 
troops, shortly after took possession of St. 
Carlos de Barrancas, and thus ended the 
war. Two years subsequently Florida be- 
came a part of the United States. 



100 irishmen's sons. 

While General Jackson was receiving on 
his return the hearty greetings of his fellow- 
citizens of Tennessee, Congress was delib- 
erating as to the advisability of censuring, 
not only his late conduct, but hints were 
even thrown out that he ought to be sub- 
jected to disgrace and punishment. The 
House had the good sense to reject such 
absurd propositions by a vote of ninety to 
fifty-four; but the Senate held the matter 
under advisement for a long time, and final- 
ly did nothing. 

Having been appointed governor of the 
newly acquired territory by President 
Monroe, Major-General Jackson, on the 
31st of May, 1821, resigned his commission 
in the army. Here his military record 
ceases, and here also, at the advanced age 
of fifty-four, his career as a statesman be- 
gins. 

In the spring of 1821, he proceeded to 
Florida to discharge his new civic duties, 
but finding them so onerous, and his pow- 
ers so limited, he soon resigned the office 
and once more returned to the beloved 



ANDREW JACKSON. 101 

Hermitage, now rebuilt and arranged more 
in accordance with advancing taste and his 
altered fortunes. In recognition of his great 
services, the Legislature, in 1823, elected 
him U. S. Senator for the term of six years, 
but though he took his seat in the Senate, 
and voted on some important questions, 
always on the democratic side, he remained 
in Washington during but two sessions, and 
then resigned. The atmosphere of the 
national capital still seemed distasteful to 
him. 

In 1824, there was a presidential election. 
There were four candidates, the friends of 
each of whom were anxious to see their 
candidate the successor of Mr. Monroe ; viz., 
General Jackson, John Q. Adams, Wm. H. 
Crawford, and Henry Clay. There was, 
however, no choice in the electoral college, 
and the election was consequently thrown 
into the House of Representatives. Accord- 
ing to the Constitution the names of the 
three highest could only be presented, and 
these were: Jackson 99, Adams 84, and 
Crawford 41 ; Mr. Clay having received only 



102 irishmen's sons. 

37 electoral votes. The majority of the 
house declared for Adams, influenced, it was 
alleged, by Clay and his supporters, from 
unworthy motives. That this was a cal- 
umny on that illustrious man there can now 
be little doubt, if we take for granted the 
statement of his political opponent, Senator 
Benton. He says, in his "Thirty Years' 
View": 

" It came within my knowledge (for I 
was then intimate with Mr. Clay), long be- 
fore the election, and probably before Mr. 
Adams knew it himself, that Mr. Clay in- 
tended to support him against General 
Jackson; and for the reasons afterward 
averred in his public speeches. I made 
this known when occasions required me to 
speak of it, and in the presence of the 
friends of the impugned parties. It went 
into the newspapers upon the information 
of these friends, and Mr. Clay made me ac- 
knowledgments for it in a letter, of which 
this is the exact copy : 

"I have received a paper published on 
the 20th ultimo, at Lemington, in Virginia, 



ASTDKEW JACKSON. 103 

in which is contained an article stating* that 
you had, to a gentleman of that place, ex- 
pressed your disbelief of a charge injurious 
to me, touching the late presidential election, 
and that I had communicated to you une- 
quivocally, before the 15th of December, 
1824, my determination to vote for Mr. 
Adams and not for General Jackson. Pre- 
suming that the publication was with your 
authority, I cannot deny the expression of 
proper acknowledgments for the sense of 
justice which has prompted you to render 
this voluntary and faithful testimony." 

If there had been any corrupt dealing 
between Adams and Clay to defeat Jackson 
he was fully avenged during the next 
presidential contest, when he was elected 
over his former successful rival by a vote 
of one hundred and seventy-eight to 
eighty-three ; John C. Calhoun being also 
chosen Vice-President by a little less major- 
ity. He was accordingly inaugurated on 
the 4th of March in the year following, the 
oath of office being administered by Chief- 
Justice Marshall. His cabinet was com- 



104 

posed of Martin Van Buren (N. Y.), Secre- 
tary of State ; Samuel D. Ingham (Penn.), 
of the Treasury; John H. Eaton (Tenn.), 
at War; John Branch (N. C), of the Navy ; 
John M. Berrien (Ga.), Attorney- General ; 
Wm. T. Barry (Ky.), Postmaster-General. 
The Senate — which at this time consisted 
of forty-eight members, presented on its 
rolls some of the ablest men of the country, 
such as Webster, Benton, Grundy, Living- 
ston, Foot, and Tyler — were opposed to 
the political views of the new President, in 
the proportion of about three to two, while 
the popular branch of Congress was largely 
in his favor. 

His first annual message, delivered De- 
cember 8th, though perhaps not altogether 
his own composition, at all events not un- 
inspired by his political advisers, was yet 
replete with his spirit, and ominous of the 
important questions which were destined to 
agitate the country for many years after their 
utterance. He took what has been called 
strong " democratic ground," and for the 
first time enunciated from the presidential 



ANDREW JACKSON. 105 

chair those peculiar views which have since 
been entertained by one of the two great par- 
ties that divide the country. In this respect 
Jackson may well be styled the Father of 
the Democratic party. He also recom- 
mended the reduction of the army and navy, 
and broke ground against the United States 
Bank; a fortress which, after many desper- 
ate assaults, he finally succeeded in captur- 
ing. His first attack on that institution was 
couched in the following significant terms : 
" The charter of the Bank of the United 
States expires in 1836, and its stockholders 
will most probably apply for a renewal of 
their privileges. In order to avoid the evils 
resulting from precipitancy in a measure 
involving such important principles, and 
such deep pecuniary interests, I feel that I 
cannot, in justice to the parties interested, too 
soon present it to the deliberate consideration 
the legislature and the people. Both the 
constitutionality and the expediency of 
the law creating this bank, are well ques- 
tioned by a large portion of our fellow- 
citizens ; and it must be admitted by all, 



106 irishmen's sons. 

that it has failed in the great end of estab- 
lishing a uniform and sound currency." 

The first year of Jackson's term was not 
marked by any important event, foreign or 
domestic, except the removal of some promi- 
nent office-holders and the appointment of 
persons more in accord with his political 
views, to fill then places. And here let it 
be remarked that the popular notion that 
he was the originator of the policy of " to 
the victors belong the spoils" is utterly 
without foundation. His removals for po- 
litical reasons, in point of fact, were less 
numerous than those of many of his prede- 
cessors, and far less than these of every 
one who succeeded him in the presidency. 

His second year was distinguished by a 
treaty negotiation with Great Britain, by 
which unobstructed trade with her West 
India colonies, lost by the Revolution, was 
restored. Free commercial intercourse with 
those islands was very desirable ; and at- 
tempts had been made by every president, 
from Washington down, to obtain it by 
negotiation, but had failed, till our minister, 



ANDREW JACKSON. 107 

Mr. Van Buren, acting under the direction 
of the President, succeeded. An act of 
Congress was passed May 29th, 1830, to 
open the ports of the United States to vessels 
of Great Britain, on condition of her remov- 
ing all restraints on the West India traffic, 
which, with the President's proclamation of 
October 5th, giving it effect, afforded general 
satisfaction to the mercantile community. 
"The loss of this trade," says Mr. Benton, 
"was a great injury to the United States 
(besides the insult), and was attended by 
circumstances which gave it the air of 
punishment for something that was past. 
It was a rebuff in the face of Europe ; for, 
while the United States were sternly and 
unceremoniously cut off from the benefit of 
the act of 1825, for omission to accept it 
within the year, yet other powers in the same 
predicament (France, Spain, and Russia) 
were permitted to accept after the year; and 
the " irritated feelings" manifested by Mr. 
Huskisson indicated a resentment which 
was finding its gratification. We were ill- 
treated, and felt it. The people felt it. It 



108 irishmen's sons. 

was an ugly case to manage, or to endure ; 
and in this period of its worst aspect Gen- 
eral Jackson was elected President." 

In 1831, the rupture between the Presi- 
dent and Mr. Calhoun, alluded to above, 
took place, and was productive, at the time, 
of much personal feeling as well as fraught 
with lasting consequences injurious alike 
to their party and the country. It was 
commenced by the latter, who, in March of 
that year, accused Mr. Van Buren of having 
endeavored to create dissensions between 
the two highest executive officers of the 
government. The whole subject arose out 
of the invasion of Florida and the conduct 
of Mr. Calhoun when Secretary at War at 
that time. We have seen that he had or- 
dered General Jackson to prosecute and 
end the war as he saw fit; but afterwards, it 
seems, in secret cabinet meeting, condemned 
his method and suggested his punishment. 
This, of course, was unknown for many 
years to Jackson, who looked on Calhoun 
as his best and most respected friend, and 
the latter certainly gave him every reason 



ANDEEW JACKSON. 109 

to think so. It was only about two years 
after their election on the same ticket that 
Jackson discovered the base deception that 
had been practised on him, and, with that 
abhorrence of duplicity which characterized 
him, he discontinued all personal intercourse 
with the vice-president. Henceforward Cal- 
houn, in and out of Congress, was his most 
bitter enemy. Van Buren, though an inno- 
cent party to the quarrel, nevertheless felt 
called on to resign his position as Secretary 
of State, and was shortly after appointed 
minister to England. This led necessarily 
to the breaking up of the cabinet and the 
formation of a new one, whose views were 
more in harmony with the chief executive. 
The new Secretaries were : Edward Liv- 
ingston (La.), of State; Louis McLane 
(Del.), of the Treasury; Louis Cass (Mich.), 
at War; Levi Woodbury (N. H.), of the 
Navy ; Amos Kendall (Ky.), Postmaster- 
General ; Eoger Brooke Taney (Md.), At- 
torney-General. 

The twenty-second Congress commenced 
its first session on the 5th of December, 



110 irishmen's sons. 

1831, and was protracted far into the mid- 
dle of the following summer, during which 
questions of the most vital importance, par- 
ticularly on finance, were discussed in both 
houses, to which the message gave the key- 
note. The condition and existence of the 
Bank of the United States was specially 
alluded to thus : " Entertaining the opin- 
ions heretofore expressed in relation to the 
Bank of the United States, as at present 
organized, I felt it my duty, in my former 
messages, frankly to disclose them, in order 
that the attention of the legislature and the 
people should be seasonably directed to 
that important subject, and that it might be 
considered and finally disposed of in a 
manner best calculated to promote the ends 
of the constitution, and subserve the public 
interests. Having thus conscientiously 
discharged a constitutional duty, I deem it 
proper, on this occasion, without a more 
particular reference to the views of the 
subject then expressed, to leave it, for the 
present, to the investigation of an enlight- 
ened people and their representatives." 



ANDREW JACKSON. Ill 

This institution was chartered in 1816, 
soon after the close of the war, and was in- 
tended to relieve the money pressure and 
disarranged financial condition of the coun- 
try, consequent on that strruggle. It had, 
however, it was claimed by its opponents, 
failed to effect the desired objects, and in- 
stead of proving a blessing to the manufac- 
turing, commercial, and agricultural inter- 
ests of the country, it grew into an oppres- 
sive monopoly, controlling, by its six 
branches in various States, the smaller and 
weaker moneyed concerns. It was also the 
depository of the government funds, and, it 
was alleged against it, used them for the 
purpose of private speculation. To its friends 
in Congress, the press, and elsewhere, it had 
been liberal of discounts and loans, and not 
over-particular as to the security, and this, 
with its large capital and extensive ramifica- 
tions, made it a real power in the land; 
which was thought by many, and not with- 
out reason, to be inimical to the spirit of 
Republican institutions. From the first, 
President Jackson resolved, if not to de- 



112 irishmen's sons. 

stroy it, at least to curtail its immense pro- 
portions. 

The charter of the bank was to expire by 
limitation in 1836, but on the 9th of Janu- 
ary, 1832, Mr. Dallas presented a memorial 
from the president and directors, asking for 
its renewal in advance. This was the signal 
for the combat between its friends and 
enemies. The debates which arose on this 
subject in the House and Senate were long, 
acrimonious, and replete with a full knowl- 
edge of the subject in all its bearings. In 
the Senate Mr. Webster was the chief 
advocate of the bank, and Mr. Benton the 
leading opponent of the renewal of its 
charter. The prayer of the memorial, how- 
ever, was granted by that body by a vote of 
twenty-eight yeas to twenty nays, and the 
bill was sent to the House. Here the 
struggle was even more obstinate, and, if 
possible, more hotly and persistently carried 
on, for its success or failure was looked 
upon as a party defeat or triumph. It was 
at length, however, carried in the affirmative 
by a majority of twenty- two out of an entire 



ANDREW JACKSON. 113 

vote of one hundred and ninety. The bill 
was then, on the 4th of July, 1832, sent to 
the President for his signature. It was now 
Jackson's turn to act, and he did so with 
a promptness and decision all his own. 
Though on the eve of another presidential 
election, and knowing full well that to pro- 
voke the hostility of the monster moneyed 
power was to raise up against himself and 
his party a most active, unscrupulous, and 
indefatigable enemy, he hesitated not a 
moment in his course. Six days after the 
passage of the bill, he returned it, with his 
Veto. The reasons for this decisive step, as 
given by the President, were numerous and 
cogent. Some were of a local or temporary 
nature, and therefore not worth reproduc- 
tion at this day; but the following, as they 
apply to all times,- are as applicable to us as 
to our ancestors. 

"Every monopoly, and all exclusive privi- 
leges, are granted at the expense of the 
public, which ought to receive a fair equiva- 
lent. The many millions which this act 
proposes to bestow on the stockholders of the 



114 irishmen's sons. 

existing bank, must come, directly or indi- 
rectly, out of the earnings of the American 
people. It is due to them, therefore, if 
their government sell monopolies and ex- 
clusive privileges, that they should at least 
exact for them as much as they are worth 
in open market. The value of the monopoly 
in this case may be correctly ascertained. 
The twenty-eight millions of stock would 
probably be at an advance of fifty per cent., 
and command, in market, at least forty-two 
millions of dollars, subject to the payment 
of the present loans. The present value of 
the monopoly, therefore, is seventeen millions 
of dollars, and this the act proposes to sell 
for three millions, payable in fifteen annual 
instalments of $200,000 each. 

"It is not conceivable how the present 
stockholders can have any claim to the 
special favor of the government. The pres- 
ent corporation has enjoyed its monopoly 
during the period stipulated in the original 
contract. If we must have such a corpora- 
tion, why should not the government sell 
out the whole stock, and thus secure to the 



ANDREW JACKSON. 115 

people the full market value of the privi- 
leges granted? Why should not Congress 
create and sell the twenty-eight millions of 
stock, incorporating the purchasers with all 
the powers and privileges secured in this 
act, and putting the premium upon the sales 
into the treasury ?••••• 

" But this proposition, although made by 
men whose aggregate wealth is believed to 
be equal to all the private stock in the ex- 
isting bank, has been set aside, and the 
bounty of our government is proposed to be 
again bestowed on the few who have been 
fortunate enough to secure the stock, and 
at this moment wield the power of the ex- 
isting institution. I cannot perceive the 
justice or policy of this course. If our gov- 
ernment must sell monopolies, it would seem 
to be its duty to take nothing less than their 
full value ; and if gratuities must be made 
once in fifteen or twenty years, let them not 
be bestowed on the subjects of a foreign 
government, nor upon a designated or 
favored class of men in our own country. 
It is but justice and good policy, as far as 



116 irishmen's sons. 

the nature of the case will admit, to confine 
our favors to our own fellow-citizens, and 
let each in his turn enjoy an opportunity to 
profit by our bounty. In the bearings of 
the act before me upon these points, I find 
ample reason why it should not become a 
law." 

The veto was sustained, the bank and its 
defenders were defeated, and the press, 
throughout the country hostile to the Presi- 
dent, commenced a campaign of abuse, 
ridicule, misrepresentation, and calumny 
against its author which lasted not only 
during his second term but long after the 
organization sought to be perpetuated, had 
ceased to exist. 

Another question of great importance 
upon which President Jackson held decided 
opinions was a Protective Tariff. Of course 
he was against it, and his views were ably 
elucidated in the Senate by such men as 
Benton and Hayne of South Carolina, while 
they were opposed by Webster, Clay, and 
Dallas. In 1832, a debate occurred on this 
yet unsettled question, in which Clay took 



ANDREW JACKSON. 117 

the leading part, and in the course of a long 
and very profound speech summed up the 
policy of the protectionist party of that day 
in the following terms : 

" 1. That the policy which we have 
been considering ought to continue to be 
regarded as the genuine American system. 

"2. That the free trade system, which is 
proposed as its substitute, ought really to be 
considered as the British colonial system. 

" 3. That the American system is bene- 
ficial to all parts of the Union, and abso- 
lutely necessary to much the larger por- 
tion. 

"4. That the price of the great staple of 
cotton, and of all our chief productions of 
agriculture, has been sustained and upheld, 
and a decline averted, by the protective 
system. 

" 5. That, if the foreign demand for cotton 
has been at all diminished by the operation 
of that system, the diminution has been 
more than compensated in the additional 
demand created at home. 

"6. That the constant tendency of the 



118 irishmen's sons. 

system, by creating competition among 
ourselves, and between American and 
European industry, reciprocally acting 
upon each other, is to reduce prices of 
manufactured objects. 

"7. That, in point of fact, objects within 
the scope of the policy of protection have 
greatly fallen in price. 

"8. That if, in a season of peace, these 
benefits are experienced, in a season of war, 
when the foreign supply might be cut off, 
they would be much more extensively felt. 

"9. And, finally, that the substitution of 
the British colonial system for the American 
system, without benefiting any section of 
the Union, by subjecting us to a foreign 
legislation, regulated by foreign interests, 
would lead to the prostration of our manu- 
factures, general impoverishment, and ulti- 
mate ruin." 

Another presidential election took place in 
November, 1832. The candidates of the 
Democracy were Andrew Jackson and 
Martin Van Buren; of the Whig party 
Henry Clay and John Sergeant. The 



ANDREW JACKSON. 119 

former received each two hundred and 
thirty-nine votes, to forty-nine for their 
opponents. Jackson's policy was there- 
fore triumphant. The country was over- 
whelming democratic, and he entered on 
his second term with renewed vigor and 
vastly increased popular support. Still the 
Senate, which from its construction is slower 
to feel the effects of a change in public 
opinion than any other branch of the gov- 
ernment, was against him, while the House 
was even more strongly in his favor. Un- 
der the circumstances, however, this divis- 
ion of opinion was a source of security to 
the country ; checking as it did, the impet- 
uosity or heedlessness of the executive and 
coordinate branch of the legislative au- 
thority, and affords another proof, if any 
additional were wanting, of the wisdom 
and forethought of the founders of the 
Eepublic. 

In the annual message immediately after 
his reelection, among other things, the Presi- 
dent, with a modest but just pride, spoke of. 
his past administration thus : 



120 irishmen's sons. 

" I cannot too cordially congratulate Con- 
gress and my fellow-citizens on the near 
approach of that memorable and happy 
event, the extinction of the public debt of 
this great and free nation. Faithful to the 
wise and patriotic policy marked out by 
the legislation of the country for this object, 
the present administration has devoted to it 
all the means which a flourishing commerce 
has supplied, and a prudent economy pre- 
served, for the public treasury. Within the 
four years for which the people have 
confided the executive power to my charge, 
fifty-eight millions of dollars will have been 
applied to the payment of the public debt. 
That this has been accomplished without 
stinting the expenditures for all other proper 
objects, will be seen by referring to the 
liberal provision made, during the same 
period, for the support and increase of our 
means of maritime and military defence, for 
internal improvements of a national charac- 
ter, for the removal and preservation of 
the Indians, and, lastly, for the gallant 
veterans of the Revolution." 



ANDREW JACKSON. 121 

On the subject of protection he was of 
opinion that " those who take an enlarged 
view of the condition of our country, must 
be satisfied that the policy of protection 
must be ultimately limited to those articles 
of domestic manufacture which are indis- 
pensable to our safety in time of war." 
Keferring to the position of the public lands 
he declared that the true policy was, that 
they should cease, as soon as practicable, to 
be a source of revenue, but that they 
should be sold to actual settlers in limited 
quantities, at a price only sufficient to re- 
imburse the United States for the cost of 
surveys, Indian compacts, etc. He also 
expressed himself in favor of the speedy 
removal of the Indians from Georgia, and 
their settlement beyond the Mississippi. 
But the message contained two passages of 
far greater import than any of the pre- 
ceding; one relating to the United States 
Bank and the other to the new political 
heresy of States Eights or nullification. 

His veto of the act re-chartering the bank, 
as we have seen, created the most profound 



122 

dissatisfaction among its friends, and during 
the presidential campaign that followed 
they used every expedient and every means 
that human ingenuity could devise, to 
oppose his reelection. All the moneyed 
power of the corporation itself, as well as 
the personal influence of its directors, stock- 
holders, and employe's, was directed to 
that sole end during the autumn of 1832. 
Newspapers were subsidized, pamphlet- 
eers employed, and so-called orators hired 
in every part of the country, for the single 
purpose of misrepresenting his actions and 
blackening his private and public character. 
All the machinery of political warfare was 
set in motion against him and, too often, in 
the most outrageous and unjustifiable man- 
ner. He was openly, repeatedly, and at 
every point, accused of every sin in the 
Table, and if it were possible to have in- 
vented a new crime at that time, he would, 
no doubt, have been denounced as the first 
criminal. But the verdict of his fellow- citi- 
zens, so absolutely pronounced, was unmis- 
takably in his favor ; and, with additional 



ANDREW JACKSON. 123 

reasons for the repression of a corporation 
that could use its power so basely, he thus 
alludes to it in his message : 

" Such measures as are within the reach 
of the Secretary of the Treasury have been 
taken, to enable him to judge whether the 
public deposits in that institution may be 
regarded as entirely safe ; but as his limited 
power may prove inadequate to this object, 
I recommend the subject to the attention of 
Congress, under the firm belief that it is 
worthy their serious investigation. An in- 
quiry into the transactions of the institution, 
embracing the branches as well as the 
principal bank, seems called for by the 
credit which is given throughout the country 
to many serious charges impeaching its 
character, and which, if true, may justly 
excite the apprehension that it is no longer 
a safe depository of the money of the peo- 
ple." 

The other matter referred to in this im- 
portant document was one that had lately 
presented itself in a new and menacing form 
to the public, and which has almost as much 



124 

interest for this generation as for the past. 
South Carolina, ever an unruly sister in the 
family of States, not content with opposing 
a protective tariff by her representatives in 
Congress, proceeded to organize a practical 
opposition to the collection of revenue in 
her ports, or in other words, to nullify the 
laws of the Union. In allusion to this illegal 
manifestation the President said : 

"It is my painful duty to state, that, in 
one quarter of the United States, opposition 
to the revenue laws has risen to a height 
which threatens to thwart their execution, if 
not to endanger the integrity of the Union. 
Whatever obstructions may be thrown in 
the way of the judicial authorities of the 
general government, it is hoped they will be 
able, peaceably, to overcome them by the 
prudence of their own officers, and the 
patriotism of the people. But should this 
reasonable reliance on the moderation and 
good sense of all portions of our fellow- 
citizens be disappointed, it is believed that the 
laws themselves are fully adequate to the 
suppression of such attempts as may be 



ANDREW JACKSON. 125 

immediately made. Should the exigency 
arise, rendering the execution of the existing 
laws impracticable, from any cause what- 
ever, prompt notice of it will be given to 
Congress, with the suggestion of such views 
and measures as may be deemed necessary 
to meet it." 

For Andrew Jackson these were very 
mild words indeed, but they were not 
heeded. Previously, however, to this mes- 
sage of November 24th, 1832, South Caro- 
lina, having first declined all participation 
in the presidential contest, issued a mani- 
festo entitled "An ordinance to nullify 
certain acts of the Congress of the United 
States, purporting to be laws laying duties 
and imposts on the importations of foreign 
commodities." The following is a fair sam- 
ple of this extraordinary pronunciamiento : 

"We, therefore, the people of the State 
of South Carolina, in convention assembled, 
do declare and ordain, and it is hereby de- 
clared and ordained, that the several acts 
and parts of acts' of the Congress of the 
United States, purporting to be laws for 



126 irishmen's sons. 

the imposing of duties and imposts on the 
importation of foreign commodities, and 
now having actual operation and effect 
within the United States, and more especi- 
ally, an act entitled l An act in alteration 
of the several acts imposing duties on im- 
ports/ approved on the nineteenth day of 
May, one thousand eight hundred and 
twenty- eight, and also an act entitled ' An 
act to alter and amend the several acts im- 
posing duties on imports/ approved on the 
fourteenth day of July, one thousand eight 
hundred and thirty-two, are unauthorized by 
the constitution of the United States, and 
violate the true meaning and intent thereof, 
and are null, void, and no law, nor binding 
upon this State, its officers or citizens ; and 
all promises, contracts, and obligations, 
made or entered into, or to be made or 
entered into, with purpose to secure the 
duties imposed by the said acts, and all 
judicial proceedings which shall be here- 
after had in affirmance thereof, are and 
shall be held utterly null and void." 

To all this and much more of the same 



ANDREW JACKSON. 127 

character, President Jackson replied at 
great length in a proclamation* of remarka- 
ble temper, force, clarity of reason, and pro- 
found knowledge of the nature and spirit of 
our institutions, and the relation between a 
State and the Federal Government. He 
concluded that remarkable state paper in 
the following language, which should be 
read and re-read by every citizen of this 
Eepublic : 

"I adjure you, as you honor their 
memory ; as you love the cause of freedom, 
to which they dedicated their lives ; as you 
prize the peace of your country, the lives 
of its best citizens, and your own fair fame, 
to retrace your steps. Snatch from the 
archives of your State the disorganizing 
edict of its convention ; bid its members to 
reassemble, and promulgate the decided 
expressions of your will to remain in the 
path which alone can conduct you to safety, 
prosperity, and honor. Tell them that, 
compared to disunion, all other evils are 
light, because that brings with it an accu- 
mulation of all. Declare that you will 



128 irishmen's sons. 

never take the field unless the star-spangled 
banner of your country shall float over 
you ; that you will not be stigmatized when 
dead, and dishonored and scorned while you 
live, as the authors of the first attack on 
the constitution of your country. Its de- 
stroyers you cannot be. You may disturb 
its peace, you may interrupt the course of 
its prosperity, you may cloud its reputation 
for stability, but its tranquillity will be re- 
stored, its prosperity will return, and the 
stain upon its national character will be 
transferred, and remain an eternal blot on the 
memory of those who caused the disorder. 
"Fellow-citizens of the United States, 
the threat of unhallowed disunion, the names 
of those, once respected, by whom it is 
uttered, the array of military force to sup- 
port it, denote the approach of a crisis in 
our affairs, on which the continuance of 
our unexampled prosperity, our political 
existence, and perhaps that of all free 
governments, may depend. The conjunc- 
ture demanded a free, a full, and explicit, 
enunciation, not only of my intentions, but 



ANDREW JACKSON. 129 

of my principles of action ; and, as the claim 
was asserted of a right by a State to annul 
the laws of the Union, and even to secede 
from it at pleasure, a frank exposition of 
my opinions in relation to the origin and 
form of our government, and the construc- 
tion I give to the instrument by which it 
was created, seemed to be proper. Having 
the fullest confidence in the justness of the 
legal and constitutional opinion of my duties, 
which has been expressed, I rely, with 
equal confidence, on your undivided sup- 
port in my determination to execute the 
laws, to preserve the Union by all consti- 
tutional means, to arrest, if possible, by 
moderate, but firm measures, the necessity 
of a recourse to force ; and, if it be the will 
of heaven that the recurrence of its prime- 
val curse on man for the shedding of a 
brother's blood should fall upon our land, 
that it be not called down by any offensive 
act on the part of the United States." 

Early in January, 1833, the President sent 
a message to Congress embodying the prin- 
ciples laid down in his proclamation, and in- 
5 



130 irishmen's sons. 

forming that body of all the steps taken by 
the nullifiers of South Carolina. He asked 
for additional legislation, and expressed " his 
confident reliance upon the disposition of 
each department of the government to per- 
form its duty and to cooperate in all measures 
necessary in the present emergency," de- 
claring, at the same time, his determina- 
tion to preserve " the integrity of the Union * 
and to execute the laws by all constitu- 
tional means. The firm attitude thus as- 
sumed by Jackson had the desired effect, 
for the time being at least, and the Com- 
promise bill, introduced by Mr. Clay in 
May, and passed with the assistance of 
Mr. Calhoun, gave to the people of his 
fiery State a decent pretext for withdraw- 
ing from a position no longer tenable. Se- 
cession, however, was not destroyed, but 
postponed; the snake was scotched, not 
killed, as we of this day know to our 
sorrow and cost. 

The thirty-second Congress assembled on 
the 2d of December, 1833, and received 
the President's message ; the first since he 



ANDREW JACKSON. 131 

had entered on his second term. In it he 
alluded to the prosperous state of the public 
finances and to other matters of general in- 
terest, but the salient point was still the 
condition of the United States Bank. It 
now became evident to every one that the 
war between the Executive, or rather the 
democratic party, and that institution, was 
to be fought to the bitter end. He thus 
alludes to it : 

" Since the last adjournment of Congress, 
the Secretary of the Treasury has directed 
the money of the United States to be de- 
posited in certain State banks designated 
by him, and he will immediately lay before 
you his reasons for this direction. I concur 
with him entirely in the view he has taken 
of the subject; and, some months before 
the removal, I urged upon the department 
the propriety of taking that step. The near 
approach of the day on which the charter 
will expire, as well as the- conduct of the 
bank, appeared to me to call for this meas- 
ure upon the high considerations of public 
interest and public duty. The extent of its 



132 irishmen's sons. 

misconduct, however, although known to 
be great, was not at that time fully devel- 
oped by proof. It was not until late in the 
month of August, that I received from the 
government directors an official report, 
establishing beyond question that this great 
and powerful institution had been actively 
engaged in attempting to influence the elec- 
tions of the public officers by means of its 
money." The news of the removal of the 
government deposits was made subsequent- 
ly, in a communication to Congress by Mr. 
Taney, Secretary of the Treasury. 

The excitement in and out of Congress 
caused by the appearance of those two docu- 
ments was intense. In the Senate the oppo- 
sition were led by Webster, Clay, and 
Calhoun ; Benton, as usual, leading the 
democratic forces. Resolutions of con- 
demnation of the President's course in 
withdrawing the deposits were introduced, 
and, after a protracted and able debate, 
were earned by twenty-six yeas to twenty 
nays. President Jackson replied to them 
in a "protest" marked by great ability 



ANDREW JACKSON. 133 

and good temper. This again led to 
some violent remarks in the Senate, and 
a notice of motion by Benton to expunge 
the objectionable resolutions. But on the 
suggestion of Mr. Pointdexter the pro- 
test was not only not received but de- 
clared to be a breach of the privileges of 
that body. 

Such was the temper of the upper house 
when the next session opened in December, 
1834. After alluding to the French spolia- 
tion difficulty, and declaring the country 
"free from public debt, at peace with all 
the world, and with no complicated interests 
to consult in our intercourse with foreign 
powers," the President returned with re- 
newed vigor to the attack on the United 
States Bank. He accused it of causing the 
confiscation of $170,041, dividends on the 
public stock, and of creating the recent com- 
mercial distress by " locking up " money and 
refusing to discount the notes of mer- 
chants, or accommodate, as was the former 
custom, State banks and other like moneyed 
institutions ; and concluded by saying : 



134 irishmen's sons. 

" I feel it my duty to recommend to you 
that a law be passed authorizing the sale of 
the public stock ; that the provision of the 
charter requiring the receipt of notes of the 
bank in payment of public dues, shall, in 
accordance with the power reserved to Con- 
gress in the 14th section of the charter, be 
suspended until the bank pays to the 
treasury the dividend withheld; and that 
all laws connecting the government or its 
officers with the bank, directly or indirectly, 
be repealed; and that the institution be 
left hereafter to its own resources and 
means." 

The debates on the French Spoliation bill, 
as it was called, occupied the greater 
portion of the time of Congress during 
this session, but the general distress, or as 
we would now call it, the panic, and the 
affairs of the bank, were the prevailing topics 
amongihe people. Indeed so thoroughly was 
the popular mind stirred up by newspapers 
and demagogues that men seemed driven to 
frenzy. The President himself nearly fell 
a victim to this insane spirit. On the 30th 



ANDREW JACKSON. 135 

■* 

of January, 1835, while he was coming out 
of the capitol, attended by two members of 
the cabinet, he was confronted by a man, 
who evidently had been lying in wait for 
him, and who, at the distance of eight feet, 
deliberately presented a pistol to his face 
and attempted to fire it off. The cap only 
exploded, and the would-be asssasin drew 
another pistol, but with like result. Jack- 
son, with his old fire, raised his cane and 
rushed on the miscreant, but before he could 
reach him the man was knocked down by 
a lieutenant of the Navy and quickly se- 
cured by the spectators. He proved to 
be an Englishman named Lawrence, and 
though imprisoned, escaped any adequate 
punishment, on the plea of insanity. The 
most curious circumstance connected with 
this affair was, that the pistols, upon 
examination, were found to be in good order 
and were easily discharged on the first 
attempt to do so. 

At this session also, Mr. King of Alabama 
presented resolutions of that State requesting 
the expunging of the resolutions of censure 



136 irishmen's sons. 

from the journal of the Senate, but they 
were laid on the table by a vote of twenty- 
seven to twenty. Benton also introduced 
his promised resolution to the same effect, 
but it met a similar fate. 

The President's message to the twenty- 
fourth Congress, which commenced its sit- 
tings in December, 1835, contained noth- 
ing of special importance, being taken up 
almost wholly by discussions on our relations 
with France, and some domestic questions 
of minor importance. Only a passing al- 
lusion is made to the United States bank, 
which had some time previously made an 
assignment. The sad condition of its affairs 
then became ajuparent, and more than justifi- 
ed the attacks of its opponents. 

The expunging resolutions were again 
introduced by Benton, but deferred, and 
meanwhile the presidential election took 
place which resulted in the election of Van 
Buren, Jackson's candidate and personal 
favorite, by a vote of one hundred and 
seventy, to seventy-three for Gen. Harrison 
and twenty-six for Mr. Hugh L. White. 



ANDREW JACKSON. 137 

This in itself was a triumph for the out- 
going president, a substantial indorsement 
of his policy, and a victory for his party, the 
fruits of which, however, were thrown 
away in the next four years, when the 
helm of the ship of state was no longer 
in his firm grasp. 

The last message of the venerable presi- 
dent to the session of 1836-7, was altogether 
occupied by financial matters and the con- 
dition of the Indians, and was only re- 
markable for its plain, touching, and even 
pathetic peroration ; when the great states- 
man, having reached the term allotted to 
man, borne down by the weight of years and 
long and faithful services, loaded with 
honors and crowned by the applause of mil- 
lions of freemen, was about to relinquish the 
authority of chief magistrate and, descend- 
ing into the ranks of private citizenship, 
to await in composure that grand, final end, 
which comes alike to prince and peasant. 

" Having now finished," he said, "the 
observations deemed proper on this, the 
the last occasion I shall have of communi- 



138 

eating with the two houses of Congress at 
their meeting, I cannot omit an expression 
of the gratitude which is due to the great 
body of my fellow-citizens, in whose par- 
tiality and indulgence I have found en- 
couragement and support in the many 
difficult and trying scenes through which 
it has been my lot to pass during my public 
career. Though deeply sensible that my 
exertions have not been crowned with a 
success corresponding to the degree of favor 
bestowed upon me, I am sure that they will 
be considered as having been directed by 
an earnest desire to promote the good of 
my country; and I am consoled by the 
persuasion that whatever errors have been 
committed will find a corrective in the in- 
telligence and patriotism of those who will 
succeed us. All that has occurred during 
my administration is calculated to inspire 
me with increased confidence in the stability 
of our institutions, and should I be spared 
to enter upon that retirement, which is so 
suitable to my age and infirm health, and 
so much desired by me in other respects, I 



ANDREW JACKSON. 139 

shall not cease to invoke that beneficent 
Being to whose providence we are already so 
signally indebted for the continuance of his 
blessings on our beloved country." 

It was during this session that Benton 
again introduced his expunging resolutions, 
which, after a long and exciting forensic 
contest in which that distinguished senator 
bore more than the lion's share, were passed 
on the 16th of March, 1837, by a vote of 
twenty-four votes for the measure to nine- 
teen against it, five members being absent. 
The great majority of the people applauded 
the act, and President Andrew Jackson, 
in consequence, retired from his great 
office and laid down the authority which 
he had exercised for eight years without a 
stain on his private or public character. 

Previous to retiring into private life, Jack- 
son, after the example of Washington, 
issued an address to the American people, 
full of fatherly advice and patriotic senti- 
ments, and with almost prophetic vision he, 
amongst other things said : 

" What have you to gain by division and 



140 

dissension! Delude not yourselves with the 
belief, that a breach, once made, may be 
afterwards repaired. If the Union is once 
severed, the line of separation will grow 
wider and wider; and the controversies 
which are now debated and settled in the 
halls of legislation, will then be tried in 
fields of battle and determined by the 
sword. Neither should you deceive your- 
selves with the hope that the first line of 
separation would be the permanent one, 
and that nothing but harmony and concord 
would be found in the new associations 
formed upon the dissolution of this Union. 
Local interests would still be found there, 
and unchastened ambition. And if the re- 
collection of common dangers, in which the 
people of these United States stood side by 
side against the common foe — the memory 
of victories won by their united valor ; the 
prosperity and happiness they have enjoyed 
under the present constitution; the proud 
name they bear as citzens of this great re- 
public — if all these recollections and proofs 
of common interest are not strong enough 



ANDREW JACKSON. 141 

to bind us together as one people, what tie 
will hold united the new divisions of empire, 
when these bonds have been broken and 
this Union dissevered? The first line of 
separation would not last for a single gen- 
eration; new fragments would be torn off; 
new leaders would spring up ; and this great 
and glorious republic would soon be broken 
into a multitude of petty States, without com- 
merce, without credit; jealous of one an- 
other; armed for mutual aggressions ; loaded 
with taxes to pay armies and leaders ; seek- 
ing aid against each other from foreign 
powers ; insulted and trampled upon by the 
nations of Europe ; until, harassed with 
conflicts, and humbled and debased in 
spirit, they would be ready to submit to the 
absolute dominion of any military advent- 
urer, and to surrender their liberty for the 
sake of repose. It is impossible to look on 
the consequences that would inevitably fol- 
low the destruction of this government, and 
not feel indignant when we hear cold cal- 
culations about the value of the Union, 
and have so constantly before us a line of 



142 irishmen's sons. 

conduct so well calculated to weaken its 
ties." 

We have dwelt more at length on Presi- 
dent Jackson's domestic policy, because 
there were issues involved in it, some of 
which, though settled, had a direct and im- 
portant bearing on the future welfare and 
prosperity of the country; and others are 
still subjects of discussion between the two 
great political parties who claim the suf- 
frages of the people. His foreign diplomacy, 
however, was almost equally important ; 
was conducted in his wonted straightfor- 
ward style ; was equally successful, and had 
a most beneficial result on the recognition 
of our rights as a nation as well as our com- 
mercial interests at home and abroad. We 
have already mentioned/his opening a direct 
and unrestricted trade with the British West 
Indies ; to this may be added the French 
indemnity treaty, by which our citizens 
obtained from that government five millions 
of dollars " for unlawful seizures, captures, 
etc., of their vessels, cargoes, or other prop- 
erty ;" the Danish treaty, and the Neapolitan, 



ANDREW JACKSON. 143 

Portuguese, and Spanish indemnity treaties, 
by which our citizens' claims against those 
countries, so long in dispute, were fully and 
satisfactorily settled. The history of the 
commercial treaty with Russia, the most 
important of all, is thus briefly sketched by 
Mr. Benton : 

" Up to the commencement of General 
Jackson's administration there was no Amer- 
ican treaty of amity, commerce, and naviga- 
tion with that great power. The attention 
of President Jackson was early directed to 
this anomalous point ; and Mr. John Ran- 
dolph of Roanoke, then retired from Con- 
gress, was induced, by the earnest persua- 
sions of the President, and his Secretary of 
State, Mr. Van Buren, to accept the place 
of envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- 
potentiary to the Court of St. Petersburg — 
to renew the applications for the treaty 
which had so long been made in vain. 
Repairing to that post, Mr. Randolph found 
that the rigors of a Russian climate were 
too severe for the texture of his fragile con- 
stitution ; and was soon recalled at his own 



144 irishmen's sons. 

request. Mr. James Buchanan, of Penn- 
sylvania, was then appointed in his place ; 
and by him the long-desired treaty was 
concluded, December, 1832 — the Count 
Nesselrode, the Russian negotiator, and the 
Emperor Nicholas the reigning sovereign. 
It was a treaty of great moment to the 
United States ; for, although it added noth- 
ing to the commercial privileges actually 
enjoyed, yet it gave stability to their enjoy- 
ment: and so imparted confidence to the 
enterprise of merchants. It was limited to 
seven years' duration, but with a clause of 
indefinite continuance, subject to termina- 
tion upon one year's notice from either party. 
Near twenty years have elapsed : no notice 
for its termination has ever been given ; and 
the commerce between the two countries 
feels all the advantages resulting from stabil- 
ity and national guarantees. And thus was 
obtained, in the first term of General Jack- 
son's administration, an important treaty 
with a great power, which all previous 
administrations and the Congress of the 
Confederation had been unable to obtain." 



ANDREW JACKSON. 145 

The treaty of friendship and commerce 
with the Ottoman Porte, ratified in .1830-'l, 
was next in importance. By the terms of 
this agreement our trade with the Turkish 
dominions was placed on the footing of the 
most favored nation ; and being without 
limitation as to time, may be considered as 
perpetual, subject only to be abrogated by 
war, in itself improbable, or by other events 
not to be expected. The right of passing 
the Dardanelles and of navigating the 
Black Sea was secured to our merchant 
ships, in ballast or with cargo, and to carry 
the products of the United States and of the 
Ottoman empire, except the prohibited arti- 
cles. The flag of the United States was 
to be respected. Factors, or commercial 
brokers, of any religion, were allowed to be 
employed by our merchants. Consuls 
were placed on a footing of security, and 
travelling with passports was protected. 
Fairness and justice in suits and litigations 
were provided for. In questions between a 
citizen of the United States and a subject 
of the Sublime Porte, the parties were not 



146 irishmen's sons. 

to be heard, nor judgment pronounced, 
unless the American interpreter was 
present. In questions between American 
citizens the trial was to be before the United 
States minister or consul. " Even when 
they shall have committed some offence, 
they shall not be arrested and put in prison 
by the local authorities, but shall be tried 
by the minister or consul, and punished 
according to the offence." All that was 
granted to other nations by the treaty of 
Adrianople was also granted to the United 
States, with the additional stipulation, to be 
always placed on the footing of the most 
favored nation — a stipulation wholly inde- 
pendent of the treaty exacted by Russia 
at Adrianople as the fruit of victories, and 
of itself equivalent to a full and liberal treaty; 
and the whole guaranteed by a particular 
treaty with ourselves, which make us inde- 
pendent of the general treaty of Adrianople. 
Assistance and protection were to be given 
throughout the Turkish dominions to Amer- 
ican wrecked vessels and their crews ; and 
all property recovered from a wreck was 



ANDREW JACKSON. 147 

to be delivered up to the American consul 
of the nearest port, for the benefit of the 
owners. Ships of war of the two countries 
were to exhibit toward each other friendly 
and courteous conduct, and Turkish ships of 
war were to treat American merchant vessels 
with kindness and respect. This treaty has 
now been in force a number of years, ob- 
served with perfect good faith by each, and 
attended by all the good consequences ex- 
pected from it. The valuable commerce of 
the Black Sea, and of all the Turkish ports 
of Asia Minor, Europe, and Africa, travel- 
ling, residence, and the pursuit of business 
throughout the Turkish dominions, are 
made as safe to our citizens as in any of the 
European countries. 

To these may be added treaties of com- 
merce and amity with Morocco, Siam, and 
the Sultan of Muscat, all of which contained 
conditions favorable to our merchants and 
travellers, and placed our trade with those 
powers on a most satisfactory footing. 

Having thus secured to the Eepublic a 
sound and permanent position among the 



148 irishmen's sons. 

family of civilized and even semi-civilized 
nations, opened up to its enterprise and in- 
dustry new channels of wealth and new 
marts for the sale of its fabrics and produce 
abroad ; having at home relieved the coun- 
try from a load of debt, crushed the monop- 
olists of the United States Bank, settled as 
far as possible the Indian question, re- 
pressed the extravagant expenditure of pub- 
lic money for unnecessary improvements, 
stamped out secession, and modified the 
tariff — the United States respected abroad 
and on the high road to prosperity — Presi- 
dent Jackson on the 4th of March delivered 
the insignia of his high office into the 
hands of his successor and, turning his back 
on the capital forever, returned to his be- 
loved Hermitage, and to the bosom of his 
friends and family. 

Eight years beyond the allotted three- 
score and ten were allowed him for rest and 
preparation for the final catastrophe. It 
would be unreasonable to suppose that all 
this time was spent in private concerns and 
social communion alone. He could not, if 



ANDREW JACKSON. 149 

he would, entirely shut out the world of 
politics, for his home was, as it were, a 
temple where many puzzled or aspiring 
politicians repaired to consult the oracle. It 
is needless to say that their reception was 
always cordial and their visits fraught with 
good and wholesome advice. It was im- 
possible, though no longer taking an active 
part in public affairs, that he should not feel 
deeply interested in everything that con- 
cerned the welfare of the country for which 
he had so long and so zealously toiled. 

At length his end drew nigh, and found 
him, according to the light that was given 
him, fully prepared to meet it. After a 
short illness, and surrounded by relatives 
and neighbors, he expired on the 5th day of 
June, 1845. 

Of his services, military and civil, it is 
almost unnecessary to speak, as the evi- 
dences of them are so indelibly impressed 
on the history of the Republic that the 
rude changes of centuries will not be able 
to efface them. A brave, humane, and, 
though untrained, a skilful soldier, he un- 



150 irishmen's sons. 

doubtedly was, but it is as a statesman, as 
the embodiment of the democracy of the 
New World, as the champion of popular 
rights and the unswerving foe of tyranny, 
bigotry, and oppression, in all their forms, 
he will be best remembered and revered by 
posterity. His private character and dis- 
position can best be told in the following 
words of one who knew him intimately 
for nearly half a century : 

"His temper was placable as well as iras- 
cible, and his reconciliations were cordial 
and sincere. Of that, my own case was a 
signal instance. After a deadly feud, I be- 
came his confidential adviser ; was offered 
the highest marks of his favor, and received 
from his dying bed a message of friendship, 
dictated when life was departing, and when 
he would have to pause for breath. There 
was a deep-seated vein of piety in him, 
unaffectedly showing itself in his reverence 
for divine worship, respect for the ministers 
of the Gospel, their hospitable reception in 
his house, and constant encouragement • of 
all the pious tendencies of Mrs. Jackson. 



ANDREW JACKSON. 151 

And when they both afterwards became 
members of a church, it was the natural 
and regular result of their early and 
cherished feelings. He was gentle in his 
house, and alive to the tenderest emotions ; 
and of this I can give an instance, greatly 
in contrast with his supposed character, and 
worth more than a long discourse in show- 
ing what that character really was. I 
arrived at his house one wet, chilly evening 
in February, and came upon him in the 
twilight, sitting alone before the fire, a lamb 
and a child between his knees. He started 
a little, called a servant to remove the two 
innocents to another room, and explained 
to me how it was. The child had cried 
because the lamb was out in the cold, and 
begged him to bring it in — which he had 
done to please the child, his adopted son, 
then not two years old. The ferocious man 
does not do that ! and though Jackson had 
his passions and his violence, they were for 
men and enemies — those who stood up against 
him — and not for women and children, or 
the weak and helpless: for all whom his 



152 irishmen's sons. 

feelings were those of protection and 
support. His hospitality was active as well 
as cordial, embracing the worthy in every 
walk of life, and seeking out deserving ob- 
jects to receive it, no matter how obscure. 
Of this I learned a characteristic instance 
in relation to the son of the famous Daniel 
Boone. The young man had come to 
Nashville on his father's business, to be de- 
tained some weeks, and had his lodgings at 
a small tavern, toward the lower part of 
the town. General Jackson heard of it: 
sought him out ; found him ; took him 
home to remain as long as his business de- 
tained him in the country, saying, i Your 
father's dog should not stay in a tavern, 
where I have a house.' This was heart! 
and I had it from the young man himself, 
long after, when he was a State Senator of 
the General Assembly of Missouri, and as 
such nominated me for the United States 
Senate, at my first election, in 1820: an 
act of hereditary friendship, as our fathers 
had been early friends. 

" Abhorrence of debt, public and private, 



ANDREW JACKSON. 153 

dislike of banks, and love of hard money, 
love of justice and love of country, were 
ruling" passions with Jackson ; and of these 
he gave constant evidence in all the situa- 
tions of his life. Of private debts he con- 
tracted none of his own, and made any sac- 
rifices to get out of those incurred for others. 
Of this he gave a signal instance, not long 
before the war of 1812 — selling the im- 
proved part of his estate, with the best 
buildings of the country upon it, to pay a 
debt incurred in a mercantile adventure to 
assist a young relative ; and going into log- 
houses in the forest to begin a new home 
and farm. He was living in these rude 
tenements when he vanquished the British 
at New Orleans ; and, probably, a view of 
their conqueror's domicile would have as- 
tonished the British officers as much as 
their defeat had done. He was attached to 
his friends, and to his country, and never 
believed any report to the discredit of either, 
until compelled by proof. He would not 
believe in the first reports of the surrender 
of General Hull, and became sad and op- 



154 irishmen's sons. 

pressed when forced to believe it. He 
never gave up a friend in a doubtful case, 
or from policy or calculation. He was a 
firm believer in the goodness of a superin- 
tending Providence, and in the eventual 
right judgment and justice of the people. 
I have seen him at the most desperate part 
of his fortunes, and never saw him waver 
in the belief that all would come right in the 
end. In the time of Cromwell he would 
have been a puritan." 

If his eulogist had added that if he had 
lived in this day he would have been a 
Catholic, he might have been nearer the 
mark, for he had many of the human vir- 
tues, the exercise of which frequently pre- 
cedes conversion. 



CARDINAL NICHOLAS WISEMAN. 

Oxe of the phenomena of the age is un- 
doubtedly the restoration of the Catholic re- 
ligion in England, its growth in every part 
of Great Britain, and its propagation among 
all classes of her population since the Eman- 
cipation act of 1829. While on the Conti- 
nent the ancient faith seems to superficial 
observers to be losing ground, even in those 
countries which were considered preemi- 
nently attached to it, across the Channel the 
Church is steadily advancing its banners and 
drawing its recruits from the most intellect- 
ual, most influential, and noblest of the 
people. " United Italy" can bear with the 
indecencies and rapacity of a debauched 
monarch ; Spain be in a vortex of commu- 
nistic revolution, from which there seems 
no outlet ; and Germany can be content to 
lie prone under the iron heel of a would-be 
Teutonic Caesar, yet the very nation that led 
the van in the so-called Reformation, that 
was one of the first to initiate proscription 



156 irishmen's sons. 

and persecution for conscience' sake and one 
of the last to lay down the carnal weapons 
of polemical warfare, is now fast gravitating 
toward the See of Rome, from which the 
bestiality and ferocity of the Tudors had 
torn her. How the England of to-day 
differs from the England of the last and 
preceding centuries ! Everywhere churches 
are being built, monasteries and nunneries 
founded, schools and colleges opened, or- 
phanages and hospitals endowed, a hierar- 
chy in high places restored, and hundreds of 
priests officiating where, if discovered in the 
time of Elizabeth or James, they would 
have found that there was but a step from 
the sanctuary to the torture chamber, from 
the altar to the scaffold. 

Many fortuitous and happy events have 
occurred to bring about so desirable a 
change, and many pious and learned men 
have labored unceasingly for the same pur- 
pose, but none with more zeal, ability, and 
success than the late Nicholas Wiseman, 
Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. So 
successful have been the labors of that 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 157 

portion of his life devoted to the interests of 
Catholicity in England, and so earnestly 
was every moment of his time employed 
to win her back to her allegiance to the 
Apostolic See, that he may without exagger- 
ation, in this respect at least, be called the 
second St. Augustine. Of him the present 
illustrious Pontiff truly said that he was 
" the man of Divine Providence for Eng- 
land." 

Let us endeavor briefly to sketch his his- 
tor}^, and trace, however faintly, the record 
of his labors and triumphs. 

He was born in Seville, Spain, on the 
second day of August, A. D. 1802. His 
mother was a lady of Spanish birth and 
name, but of undoubted Irish descent, and 
his father a scion of an old County Water- 
ford family who had settled in Spain and had 
became extensively engaged in commerce. 
We are aware that the nationality of this 
parent has been disputed, and that the 
English press and so-called " Biographical 
Dictionaries," though they hated the Car- 
dinal, yet were unwilling to accord the 



158 irishmen's sons. 

honor of his descent to Ireland, and claim him 
as one of themselves. But we have the 
authority of those who knew him long and 
intimately in London, and of a near relative 
now living in this country, for asserting 
what we have above stated relative to his 
parentage. To argue from his patronymic 
that he must necessarily have been English 
on his father's side is to show a very lament- 
able knowledge of Irish history. The very 
section of country # so long recognized as 
the home of his ancestors was from the 
first a portion of the English pale, and con- 
sequently subject to its laws, such as they 
were. Now by the statute of Kilkenny 
passed in the fifteenth century, it was made 
a penal offence to use an Irish name, and all 
natives within the jurisdiction of English 
law were obliged to Anglicize their names 
forthwith. Thus McGrowan became Smith 
or Smithson; McShane, Jackson or John- 
son ; McMurrough, Murphy, and so on, to 
the infinite confusion and perplexity of all 
future antiquarians and genealogists. That 
the Wisemans, as claimed, may have been 



CAEDINAL WISEMAN. 159 

remotely descended from a family of that 
name in Essex, England, is quite possible, 
but except in the resemblance of the names 
we have no proof whatever that such was 
the case. 

At a very early age young Wiseman had 
the misfortune of losing his father. A few 
years after, the Peninsula was invaded by 
the French troops, and war, with its attend- 
ant consequences, plunder and devastation, 
overspread the land. The colleges were of 
course closed and the schools discontinued. 
Mrs. Wiseman therefore, finding it impossi- 
ble to obtain a suitable education for her son 
at home, resolved to take him to the land of 
their forefathers, hoping that there she might 
find an opportunity of training him, ac- 
cording to the usages of his family, in the 
Catholic faith and doctrine. 

In this, however, she was sadly disappoint- 
ed. The dark shadow of the penal laws 
still hung over Ireland, and her people had 
not yet been aroused from their thraldom of 
centuries, by the trumpet tones of the great 
Emancipator's voice. Ma}mooth College, it 



160 irishmen's sons. 

is true, existed, mainly on a miserable stipend 
grudgingly and niggardly granted annually 
by the English government for its own good 
reasons, but primary education of a Catholic 
character was still in its infancy. 

In 1810, after allowing her son to remain 
a couple of years at a boarding-school in the 
vicinity of the city of Waterford, Mrs. Wise- 
man brought him to England and placed 
him in St. Cuthbert's College, Ushaw, near 
Durham. The great inducement for selecting 
this place in preference to others seems to 
have arisen from the circumstance that at 
that time the vice-president and actual head 
of the college was Dr. Lingard, the author 
of the " Catholic History of England," then 
in the zenith of his fame, as he is to-day the 
only English author upon whose statements 
regarding the history of his country any 
reliance can be placed. 

That the fond and earnest mother made 
a wise selection there can be no doubt, for 
we have it on the testimony of the cardinal 
himself many years after the death of the 
learned doctor. " I have retained upon my 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 161 

memory," he wrote, in his " History of the 
Last Four Popes," "the vivid recollection of 
specific acts of thoughtful and delicate kind- 
ness, which showed a tender heart, mindful 
of its duties amidst the many harassing 
occupations just devolved on him through 
the death of the president and his own lit- 
erary engagements ; for he was reconduct- 
ing his first great work through the press. 
But though he went from college soon after, 
and I later left the country, and saw him 
not again for fifteen years, yet there grew 
up an indirect understanding first, and by 
degrees a correspondence and an intimacy 
which continued to the close of his life." 

Here he remained for eight years, study- 
ing diligently all that could be taught him 
in class, and devoting his leisure hours to 
cultivating an intimate acquaintance with 
classic art and antiquarian lore. His in- 
dustry even at this early stage of life was re- 
markable, while his gentleness and ductility 
of character made him a general favorite. 
It was at this time, also, being satisfied that 

his vocation was for the priesthood, he re- 

6 



162 irishmen's sons. 

solved to direct his studies to that end, and 
even contemplated a journey to Rome at 
some remote period. His Latin books had 
awakened in him a very intense love for the 
Eternal City, while his reverence for all 
things religious created a desire to view in 
person the fountain-head of Catholicity. 
Of Rome he says : " Its history, its topog- 
raphy, its antiquities, had formed the bond 
of a little college society devoted to this 
queen of cities, while the dream of its long- 
ings had been the hope of one day seeing 
what could then only be known through 
hearsay, tourists, and fabulous plans." 

A wish so natural and a longing* so much 
in keeping with his tastes and habits were 
soon to be gratified. The English College 
at Rome, founded by Ina, King of Wessex, 
A. D. 727, was in 1818 restored by Pope 
Pius VII, after having been closed for 
many years and despoiled repeatedly during 
the Napoleonic wars. Young Wiseman and 
several other English students were selected 
to form its first school, and thither they 
were despatched shortly after the Pope's au- 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 163 

thority to open the college was made public. 
His arrival in Rome, with six juvenile com- 
panions, early in December, was a source 
of genuine pleasure to the future cardinal, 
and the kindly reception given him by the 
rector, Dr. Cradwell, made him feel per- 
fectly at ease in his new quarters. The 
reverend rector, who had been appointed 
to take charge of the restored foundation, 
was not only a ripe scholar and an excellent 
executive officer, but was as remarkable 
for his affection for his pupils as for his 
facility in imparting to them the vast and 
varied knowledge with which his miind was 
stored. 

On Christmas day following, the young 
student was presented to Pope Pius VII. 
This was to the lad a source of genuine 
pleasure, and a day long remembered by 
him with peculiar satisfaction. The vener- 
able Pontiff, in addition to the reverence 
attached to his sacred office and to his 
many and shining personal virtues, had ex- 
cited the sympathy and . esteem of all 
Christendom by his undaunted and firm 



164 irishmen's sons. 

resistance to all encroachments of the civil 
power on the rights of the Church, as 
well as by his long" suffering and im- 
prisonment consequent upon his courage 
and fortitude. Not all the blandishments 
of the great Napoleon could induce him to 
swerve a hair's breadth from! lis line of duty, 
nor all the threats, menaces, and indignities 
inflicted on him by that able but unscrupu- 
lous conqueror, could move him to depart for 
a moment from the path in which his sainted 
predecessors had walked. Kings and em- 
perors, the great and mighty of the earth, 
had been forced to bow down at the feet 
of the son of a Corsican attorney, and even 
to court his friendship and seek his family 
alliance. But the Bishop of Rome, without 
an army, a navy, a revenue, or even a sub- 
ject, with nothing but rectitude of con- 
science and his implicit reliance on the as- 
sistance of his Divine Master, set his anger 
and power equally at defiance. And, as 
the result showed, he conquered : a lesson 
from history which may not be inaptly read 
by the present generation of bigots who are 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 165 

now engaged in prophesying the downfall 
of the Papacy. 

The yonng man's interview with the 
sovereign Pontiff was thus subsequently 
described by himself: " There was the halo 
of a confessor round the tiara of Pius 
that eclipsed all gold and jewels. . . . 
Instead of receiving us, as was custom- 
ary, seated, the mild and amiable pon- 
tiff rose to welcome us, and meet us as we 
approached. He did not allow it to be a 
mere presentation, or a visit of ceremony. 
It was a fatherly reception, and in the 
truest sense our inauguration into the 
duties that awaited us. . . The friendly 
and almost national grasp of the hand, after 
due homage had been willingly paid, be- 
tween the head of the Catholic Church, 
venerable by his very age, and a youth 
who had nothing even to promise; the 
first exhortation on entering a course of 
ecclesiastical study — its very inaugural dis- 
course from him whom he believed to be 
the fountain of spiritual wisdom on earth ; 
these surely formed a double tie, not to be 



166 irishmen's sons. 

broken, but rather strengthened, by every 
subsequent experience." 

Doubtless the good pope felt a peculiar 
gratification in welcoming those young Eng- 
lish students and in beholding in them 
the germs of a great order, the inchoate 
laborers in the vineyard, whose services in 
the future would do much to bring within 
the pale of Catholic unity a people who at 
one time had given so many illustrious 
sons to the Church. As the Father of the 
Faithful he yearned for the conversion of 
every part of the globe, but more especially 
for that country that had so unaccountably 
and suddenly fallen into heresy and re- 
bellion against God's authority. 

As in St. Cuthbert's, Wiseman proved him- 
self, in the English college, a student of 
wonderful application, patience, and ver- 
satility. His hours of regular study were 
employed in the most diligent manner, 
while the time allotted to recreation was 
devoted to exploring the old classic ruins, 
tracing the half-effaced monuments of the 
past, deciphering the almost obliterated 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 167 

mural inscriptions, and particularly in wan- 
dering through the catacombs and crypts, 
where the early Christians lived, worshipped, 
and were buried. The result of his explo- 
ration in these latter he has given us in very 
eloquent and concise language, in his beau- 
tiful historical tale, " Fabiola," and alludes 
to them frequently in his writings and 
lectures. In fact he never seemed tired of 
referring with evident gratification to, as he 
expresses it," images of long, delicious strolls 
in musing loneliless, through the deserted 
ways of the ancient city ; of climbing among 
its hills, over ruins, to reach some vantage- 
ground for mapping the subjacent territory, 
and looking beyond the glorious chains of 
greater and lesser mountains, clad in their 
imperial hues of gold and purple ; and then 
perhaps of solemn entrance into the cool 
solitude of an open basilica, where the 
thought now rests, as the body then did, 
after the silent evening-prayer, and brings 
forward from many well-remembered nooks 
every local inscription, every lovely monu- 
ment of art, the characteristic feature of 



168 irishmen's sons. 

each, or the great names with which it is 
associated. . . . Thus does Rome sink 
deep and deeper into the soul, like the dew, 
of which every separate drop is soft and 
weightless, but which still finds its way to 
the root of everything beneath the soil, 
imparting there to every future plant its 
own warm tint, its own balmy fragrance, and 
its own rejuvenescent vigor." 

Such were the "hours of idleness," as 
spent by the future cardinal, and while 
others employed their vacation in mere 
sight-seeing or trivial amusements, his 
young and impressionable soul was drinking 
in those pure draughts of beauty and love of 
Christian art : and it is to those early pur- 
suits, and the knowledge acquired through 
them, that the world is indebted for most 
of the rare sketches of ancient Roman life, 
topography, and art, with which so many 
of his lectures are adorned. 

It is even questionable whether he did not 
carry his search after the beautiful and an- 
tique too far, at this period, for we find that 
of his fellow-students who accompanied him 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 169 

from England all or nearly all had been or- 
dained and had returned home, and " were 
gaining a crown in heaven to which many 
of them have passed." But we must also 
recollect that Providence always shapes the 
means to the end, and, while some are des- 
tined for useful obscurity, equally meritori- 
ous, others are designed for higher and loftier 
actions and require peculiar and more com- 
prehensive training and instruction. What 
would be of little use, in the matter of ac- 
complishments, to a quiet, laborious priest, 
in the prosecution of his daily and hourly 
avocations, becomes a necessity to a prince 
of the Church, to one who would not only 
have to treat with the highest intellects of 
the outer world, but, from his position, would 
be obliged to govern many, as much by 
the grandeur of his mind as by the authority 
of his office. 

At length, in 1825, his wishes were grati- 
fied. " The aim of years," he says, " the 
goal of long preparation, the longed-for 
crown of unwavering desires, the only prize 
thought worthy of being aspired to, was at- 



170 irishmen's sons. 

tained in the bright jubilee spring of Rome. 
It marks a blessed epoch in a life to have 
the grace of the priesthood superadded to the 
exuberant benedictions of the year." It will 
be remembered, 1825 was the jubilee year. 
In the meantime Pius VII had passed 
away, and was succeeded by Leo XII, 
whose partiality for the inmates of the 
foreign colleges at Rome is well known. 
To him, shortly after his election, our 
3^oung student was presented, and, in reply 
to a remark of his Holiness, he candidly 
replied: "I am a foreigner who came here, 
at the call of Pius VII, six years ago ; 
my first patrons, Pius VII, Cardinals Litta, 
De Pietro, Fontana, and now Consalvi, are 
dead, I therefore recommend nwself to 
your Holiness's protection, and I hope you 
will be a father to me at this distance from 
my country." Words so feeling and yet so 
simply expressed could not but have found 
their way to the tender heart of the vener- 
able pontiff. He promised the youthful 
stranger his protection and kept his word 
faithfully during his entire reign. 



CAKDINAL WISEMAN. 171 

Dr. Wiseman relates the following in- 
stance of his kindness soon after, speaking 
of himself as a third person : 

" It so happened that a person connected with the Eng- 
lish College was an aspirant to a chair in the Roman 
university. He had been encouraged to compete for 
it, on its approaching vacancy, by his professors. Hav- 
ing no claims of any sort, by interest or connection, 
he stood simply on the provision of the papal bull, 
which threw open all professorships to competition. It 
was but a secondary and obscure lectureship at best ; 
one concerning which, it was supposed, few would busy 
themselves or come forward as candidates. It w 7 as, 
therefore, announced that this rule would be overlooked, 
and a person every way qualified, and of considerable 
reputation, would be named. The more youthful 
aspirant unhesitatingly solicited an audience, at which 
I was present. He told the Pope frankly of his inten- 
tions and of his earnest wish to have carried out, in his 
favor, the recent enactments of his Holiness. Nothing 
could be more affable, more encouraging, than Leo's 
reply. He expressed his delight at seeing that his 
regulation was not a dead letter, and that it had ani- 
mated his petitioner to exertion. He assured him that 
he should have a fair chance, 'a clear stage and no 
favor,' desiring him to leave the matter in his hands. 

" Time wore on ; and as the only alternative, given 
in the bull was proof, by publication of a work, of 
proficiency in the art or science that was to be taught, 



172 irishmen's sons. 

he quietly got a volume through the press — probably 
very heavy ; but sprightliness or brilliancy was not a 
condition of the bull. When a vacancy arrived, it was 
made known, together with the announcement that it 
bad been filled up. All seemed lost, except the honor 
of the pontiff, to which alone lay any appeal. Another 
audience was asked, and instantly granted, its motive 
being, of course, stated. I was again present, and shall 
not easily forget it. It was not necessary to re-state the 
case. <I remember it all,' the Pope said most kindly; 

'I have been surprised. I have sent for C , 

through whom this has been done ; I have ordered the 
appointment to be cancelled, and I have reproved him 
so sharply that I believe it is the reason why he is laid 
up to-day with fever. You have acted fairly and boldly, 
and you shall not lose the fruits of your industry. I 
will keep my word with you and the provisions of my 
constitution.' With the utmost graciousness he ac- 
cepted the volume — now treasured by its author, into 
whose hands the copy has returned — acknowledged the 
right to preference which it had established, and as- 
sured its author of fair play. 

" The Pope had, in fact, taken up earnestly the 
cause of his youthful appellant ; instead of annoyance, 
he showed earnestness and kindness ; and those who 
had passed over his pretensions with contempt were 
obliged to treat with him and compromise with him on 
terms that satisfied all his desires. Another audience 
for thanksgiving was kindly accorded, and I witnessed 
the same gentle and fatherly temper, quietly cheerful, 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 173 

and the same earnest sympathy with the feelings of 
him whose cause had been so graciously carried through. 
If this young client gained no new energies, gathered 
no strength from such repeated proofs of interest and 
condescension j if these did not both direct and impel, 
steer and fill, the sails of his little bark through many 
troubled waters j nay, if they did not tinge and savor 
his entire mental life, we may write that man soulless 
and incapable of any noble emotions." 

In 1826, Father Wiseman was appointed 
vice-rector of the English College, and thus 
prevented from going on the home mission, 
and two years afterwards, when his kind 
preceptor was appointed bishop, he was 
named as his successor. He had already 
received the title of Doctor of Divinity, 
while in his twenty-second year, for having 
maintained a public disputation in theology 
with marked success. 

Though still a young man, and in a city 
where the best intellect and most laborious 
students in Christendom were wont to con- 
gregate, Father Wiseman had acquired an 
enviable reputation, both as a theologian, 
an archaeologist, and a linguist. He was 
particularly recognized as an Oriental schol- 



174 irishmen's sons. 

ar, and was in fact one of the few men in 
Europe at that time who had succeeded in 
obtaining a mastery over the elaborate and 
many-sided languages of the East. The 
publication of his " Horse Syriacse," his first 
production given to the public, confirmed 
the general impression, and obtained for 
him the professorship of Oriental languages 
in the Koman University in 1827, without 
necessitating his separation from the Eng- 
lish College. 

In the latter he taught for many years 
with great and well deserved success. The 
discipline he enforced was neither too rigid 
nor too lax, and the course of studies em- 
braced as great a variety of branches as was 
consistent with the objects for which the in- 
stitution was restored to subserve : the 
preparation of young ecclesiastics for the 
English mission, and their despatch, as soon 
as possible after their ordination, to the 
scenes of their future labors. There are 
many priests and even bishops yet living 
in Great Britain, who studied under him, 
and who love to acknowledge with gratitude 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 175 

the benefits they received from his edifying 
example and wise counsels. Knowing well 
that the popular mind of that day, as of our 
own, was fast gravitating toward the study 
of the natural sciences, and through it, when 
misdirected or not directed at all, into infi- 
delity and atheism, he took particular care 
to have those sciences taught in his college, 
and to impress on the minds of his pupils 
that they would not only have to combat 
doubt and materialism in their ordinary 
forms, but in the more attractive, though 
not less insidious and dangerous garb of 
research into the hidden mysteries of nature. 
That his views of the duties of an English 
priest were correct is thoroughly proved by 
recent experience, and that he succeeded in 
impressing them on the minds of the stu- 
dents is demonstrated by the number of 
reverend gentlemen in England who have 
entered, of late years, upon the discussion 
of scientific matters against those who would 
turn the presence of God's works into an 
argument against his very existence. 

It was in 1827 also, that Leo XII resolved 



176 irishmen's sons. 

to institute in the church of Gesii e Maria, 
a course of lectures in English for the benefit 
not only of all the persons in the colleges 
and religious communities in Rome who 
understood that language, but for all others 
who might wish to attend them. In selecting 
a fitting preacher, the choice naturally fell 
on Dr. Wiseman, and he was forthwith se- 
lected by his Holiness. Describing the 
audience at which he received his commis- 
sion, the Doctor afterwards wrote: 

" The burden was laid there and then with 
peremptory kindness, "by an authority that might 
not be gainsaid. And crushingly it pressed upon 
the shoulders. It would be impossible to describe 
the anxiety, pain, and trouble which this command cost 
for many years after. Nor would this be alluded to 
were it not to illustrate what has been kept in view in 
this volume — how the most insignificant life, temper, 
and mind may be moulded by the action of a great and 
almost unconscious power. Leo could not see what has 
been the influence of his commission, in merely drag- 
ging from the commerce with the dead to that of the 
living one who would gladly have confined his time to 
the former — from books to men, from reading to speak- 
ing. Nothing but this would have done it. Yet sup- 
posing that the providence of one's life was to be 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 177 

active, and in contact with the world, and one's future 
duties were to be in a country and in times where the 
most bashful may be driven to plead for his religion 
or his flock, surely a command overriding* all inclination 
and forcing the will to undertake the best and only 
preparation for those tasks, may well be contemplated 
as a sacred impulse and a timely direction to a mind 
that wanted both. Had it not come then, it never 
more could have come ; other bents would have soon 
become stiffened and unpliant j and no second oppor- 
tunity could have been opened after others had satisfied 
the first demand." 

What between his duties as rector, his 
professorship in the university, and the 
preparation and delivery of these lectures, 
which were always listened to with attention 
and criticised with no little severity by 
crowds of English-speaking visitors in the 
Eternal City, his time must have been fully 
employed. Yet he found leisure to compose, 
mainly for the benefit of his pupils, an 
essay on " Science and Revealed Religion," 
afterwards embodied in his lectures on the 
the same subject. Upon waiting on the 
Pope Pius VIII, to present a copy of this 
little work, he found that his Holiness had 
not only already read it, but honored him 



178 irishmen's sons. 

with the remark : " You have robbed Eygpt 
of its spoil, and shown that it belongs to the 
people of God." This criticism, coming from 
so high a source, must have been peculiarly 
gratifying to so appreciative a mind as that 
of Dr. Wiseman. In fact the subject was 
one he had constantly studied, and upon 
which he always loved to descant, and soon 
after the appearance of the essay he was in- 
duced by Cardinal Weld to prepare a course 
of lectures on the " Connection between 
Science and Revealed Religion," which were 
delivered, first in his own college and 
afterwards in the Cardinal's apartments, to 
a select and distinguished auditory. 

As the facilities for publishing these lec- 
tures in Rome, in the language in which they 
were delivered, were very limited, Dr. Wise- 
man resolved to visit England and supervise 
their publication there. He accordingly 
went to that country, and had the satisfaction 
of finding this, what may be called his first 
effort to popularize a theme so long a con- 
cealed one for the masses, highly successful. 
The appearance of his book was the signal, 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 179 

of course, for violent attacks from all quarters 
antagonistic to Catholicity and to Christi- 
anity, but the more intelligent and better 
class of the people read and admired it, and 
even the " scientists " could not help admit- 
ting its vast erudition and cogency of argu- 
ment. Many a doubting mind, lost in the 
mazes of scientific speculation, has been 
set right and restored to sound Christian 
views by the perusal of those philosophic, 
yet perfectly comprehensible lectures. 
During his visit he also preached a number 
of discourses of a controversial character, 
during the Advent of 1835, in the Sardinian 
Chapel, London ; and another series, during 
the following Lent, in St. Mary's Church, 
Moorflelds. These latter were subsequently 
published, under the title of u Lectures on the 
Principal Doctrines and Practices of the 
Catholic Church " ; while the former gave 
rise to an animated controversy between him 
and Dr. Turton, afterwards Protestant bishop 
of Ely, on the subject of the Holy Eucharist. 
The temper and courtesy displayed on both 
sides on this occasion were admirable, and 



180 

produced a profound impression on the Eng- 
lish public favorable to the Catholics, though 
it was generally admitted that the Anglican 
divine, no mean opponent, had been van- 
quished by the superior learning and higher 
moral argument of the Roman Doctor. In 
1836, he returned to Rome, to his college 
and his beloved studies. But the events 
of the preceding decade had to a great 
extent changed the direction of his mind 
and aroused in his bosom a latent desire 
which had long slumbered there. This was 
a longing for the reconversion of England, 
and an ardent hope that he might be 
thought worthy to become a participant in 
that holy work. While at St. Cuthbert's his 
young heart panted for the sights and 
scenes of old Rome ; to kneel at the shrines 
of the saints and worship God in the mag- 
nificent and awe-inspiring basilicas which 
adorn the capital of Christendom ; to tread 
the stones made sacred by the blood of the 
early martyrs, and explore the dungeons and 
hiding-places of the primitive Christians, 
were his highest ambition, and his dearest 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 181 

wish on earth. Now, in the plenitude of his 
manhood, his mind fully developed and 
enriched with all the learning of his sacred 
profession and the acquirements of an ac- 
complished scholar, he yearned to return to 
the land of his boyhood and to offer at her 
feet all the treasures of his great soul, if by 
so doing he could win even the least of her 
children to the knowledge of the Faith. 

Many circumstances combined to inten- 
sify this feeling. He had, years previously, 
opened a correspondence with his old teach- 
er, Dr. Lingard, who sought to impress on 
him the necessity of having additional 
clergymen in England, consequent on the 
increased demands for clerical ministration 
arising out of Irish Catholic immigration to 
the large cities and manufacturing centres. 
Then, his former students, who were now 
hard at work at home, would write to the 
same effect. Next came the rumor, faint at 
first, that " popery" had invaded the Gib- 
raltar of Anglicanism, Oxford University, 
and that the ablest thinkers in that time-hon- 
ored seat of learning were gravitating 



182 irishmen's sons. 

toward Rome. This was followed by his 
lectures in the Gesu e Maria, at which not 
only Catholics but Protestants of all sects 
attended, and which drew around him a 
host of English friends most desirous for his 
presence in London. His subsequent visit 
to England, and his cordial and respectful 
reception there, seem to have finally de- 
termined him to put into execution the 
project that had so long haunted his 
thoughts. 

Four years' probation were still to be 
spent in the Christian capital before he could 
consider himself qualified to undertake the 
ponderous and difficult task he proposed to 
himself. During these years most of the 
time he could spare from his assigned duties 
were spent in consultation at the side of the 
then Pope, Gregory XVI, from whom, as 
from his predecessors, he received much valu- 
able advice and every mark of confidence 
and esteem. In his " Four Last Popes" he 
gives the following striking picture of his 
visits to that pontiff: 

" An embrace would supply the place of 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 183 

ceremonious forms on entrance. At one 
time a long, familiar conversation, seated 
side by side ; at another a visit to the pene- 
tralia of the pontifical apartment (a small 
suite of entresols, communicating by an 
internal staircase) occupied the time. . . 
What it has been my happiness to hear 
from him in such visits, it would be be- 
traying a sacred trust to reveal ; but many 
and many words there spoken rise to the 
mind in times of trouble, like stars, not only 
bright in themselves, but all the brighter in 
their reflection from the brightness of their 
mirror. They have been words of mastery 
and spell over after events, promises, and 
prognostics which have not failed, assur- 
ances and supports that have never come 
to naught." 

At length the long anticipated change 
took place. In 1840 it was resolved to 
increase the number of vicars apostolic in 
England to eight, instead of four, to meet 
the demands of the growing Catholic popu- 
lation. Dr. Wiseman was thereupon nom- 
inated coadjutor to the Et. Rev. Dr. Walsh at 



184 irishmen's sons. 

Wolverhampton, and was consecrated that 
year in Rome by Cardinal Fransoni. He 
left that city immediately after, to the great 
regret of the many friends to whom he was 
so long and so intimately known, and, if we 
may judge from his own account, the feel- 
ing was amply reciprocated. 

" It was a sorrowful evening," he writes, 
" at the beginning of autumn, when, after a 
residence in Rome prolonged through 
twenty-two years, till affection clung to 
every old stone there like the moss that 
grew into it, this strong but tender tie was 
cut, and much of future happiness had to be 
invested in the mournful recollections of 
the past." 

Shortly after his arrival in England 
Bishop Wiseman, in addition to his du- 
ties as vicar apostolic, assumed the presi- 
dency of St. Mary's College, Oscott, near 
Birmingham, and, profiting by his large 
experience in the English college, he intro- 
duced into that institution many impor- 
tant changes, which had the effect of in- 
creasing its efficiency and establishing it 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 185 

as one of the first seminaries in the United 
Kingdoms. 

From this period may be dated Bishop 
Wiseman's actual entrance into active, real 
life. His previous labors had been but a 
source of training necessary to fit him for 
the discharge of higher and more responsi- 
ble duties. Heretofore he had spent his 
life in the society of learned men or in the 
quietude of his study ; there was no venal 
press to spew forth its daily or weekly 
venom, no hireling demagogues to excite the 
passions of the mob against the professors of 
the ancient faith, no parliamentary zealot 
to forge and utter the vilest calumnies 
against the Church and her faithful minis- 
ters. All these agencies of evil he was now 
about to encounter, and, if possible, to live 
them down. How well and faithfully he 
wrought out his great mission, and how 
completely he silenced, if he did not annihi- 
late, his opponents and the enemies of the 
Church, we shall see presently. 

The Catholics of England thirty-five 
years ago occupied a strange and by no 



186 irishmen's sons. 

means an encouraging position, Thej con- 
sisted of four widely distinct and to some 
extent antagonistic elements. These were : 

I. A few noble families who had clung 
to the faith through all changes and vicissi- 
tude, and had succeeded in retaining, by one 
device or another, a portion, at least, of their 
ancient patrimony. 

II. French emigres, with their descend- 
ants, who had not returned to their native 
country at the Restoration, but had settled 
down and married in England. 

III. Isolated groups of Catholic gentry 
and farmers, mostly in the north, whose 
ancestors had remained faithful to the 
Church, despite the cruel barbarity of the 
penal days, or who, from their comparative 
insignificance, had escaped the blood-hounds 
of the law. 

IV. Irish emigrants and their children, 
who from choice or necessity had left their 
native land to seek employment in the sister 
island, and, who, with the tenacity of their 
race, clung with increased fondness to the 
sole consolation of their exile — the Catholic 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 187 

religion. This class far outnumbered all 
the others combined, as they also surpassed 
them in the fervor of their devotion and the 
singleness of their purpose ; but being 
strangers and generally poor, they had little 
social standing and less political power. 
They were to be found in the greatest num- 
bers in London, Liverpool, Leeds, Man- 
chester, Birmingham, and other manufactur- 
ing cities, but seldom in the smaller towns or 
rural districts. 

There was unfortunately little cohesion 
among these classes, and nothing that might 
be called a unity of action or a disposition 
to labor together for a common cause. 
There was no literature, worthy of the name, 
to disseminate correct opinions on religion, 
morality, or civil polity ; few literary institu- 
tions or semi-benevolent societies to bring 
together persons of divers walks in life ; in 
fact, no common channel for the flow of 
common ideas or any recognized captains to 
defend the persecuted faith and the outraged 
rights of the entire body. Again, there 
were no recognized hierarchy, few priests 



188 

in proportion to the work to be done, 
but a few schools, and those of doubtful 
usefulness, and not many monasteries, nun- 
neries, or hospitals like those which now dot 
the face of the country. 

To correct all these evils and supply so 
many defects was the gigantic task allot- 
ted to the future cardinal. 

But, in addition to the active cooperation 
of the priesthood and the zealous support 
of some influential laymen, Dr. Wiseman 
soon found assistance in a quarter from 
which it was least expected. This was the 
"Tractarian Movement," as it was then 
called. At first springing up among the 
Anglican professors in Oxford for the avowed 
purpose of correcting the errors and recon- 
ciling the incongruities of the Church of 
England, it ended in producing some of the 
brightest, purest, and most profound prelates 
and preachers of the faith in England. 
As Dr. Wiseman took a great interest in 
that movement, a short sketch of its origin 
and development may not be out of place 
here. 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 189 

Its birth may be dated from 1832, at 
Oxford University, where a number of young 
but thoroughly trained fellows and students 
had been long in the habit of assembling 
in friendly intercourse and discussing vari- 
ous points of Anglican doctrine and disci- 
pline. Principal among these was Dr. 
John Henry Newman, and his companions, 
Hurrell Froude, John Keble, Hugh Rose, 
and Dr. Pusey. As Dr. Newman was the 
leading spirit of the new school and the 
most advanced mind, we quote from his 
" Apologia pro Vita Sua " some passages de- 
scriptive of the peculiar notions, designs, and 
ultimate conversion of himself and many 
of his friends. 

After describing a tour he made on the 
Continent in 1832-'3, his visiting Catholic 
countries, churches, and shrines, and his 
calls upon " Monseigneur (Cardinal) Wise- 
man at the Colligio Inglese " in Rome, he 
says : 

"When I got home from abroad, I found that al- 
ready a movement bad commenced in opposition to the 
specific danger which at that time was threatening the 



190 irishmen's sons. 

religion of the nation and its Church. Several zealous 
and able men had united their counsels, and were in 
correspondence with each other. The principal of these 
were Mr. Keble, Hurrell Froude, who had reached 
home long before me, Mr. William Palmer of Dublin 
and Worcester college, Mr. Arthur Percival, and Mr. 
Hugh Rose." 

These gentlemen and some of their old col- 
lege associates commenced the publication 
of a series of tracts, ninety in all, on various 
topics affecting the condition of the Church 
of England, which, from their intrinsic liter- 
ary merit and novelty of opinions, attracted 
general attention and excited much com- 
ment and discussion. But as Dr. Newman 
was the recognized leader, we will let him 
speak for the others. He says : 

" I have spoken of my firm confidence in my position ) 
and now let me state more definitely what the position 
was which I took up, and the propositions about which 
I was so confident. These were three: 1. First was 
the principle of dogma : my battle was with liberalism j 
by liberalism I meant the anti -dogmatic principle and 
its developments. This was the first point on which I 
was certain. Here I make a remark : persistence in a 
given belief is no sufficient test of its truth j but depart- 
ure from it is at least a slur upon the man who has felt 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 191 

so certain about it. In proportion then as I had in 
1832 a strong persuasion in beliefs which I have since 
given up, so far a sort of guilt attaches to me, not only 
for that vain confidence, but for my multiform conduct 
in consequence of it. But here I have the satisfaction 
of feeling that I have nothing to retract, and nothing to 
repent of. The main principle of the Movement is as 
dear to me now as it ever was. I have changed in many 
things : in this I have not. From the age of fifteen, 
dogma has been the fundamental principle of my relig- 
ion : I know no other religion ; I cannot enter into the 
idea of any other sort of religion j religion, as a mere 
sentiment, is to me a dream and a mockery. As well 
can there be filial love without the fact of a father, as 
devotion without the fact of a Supreme Being. What 
I held in 1816, I held in 1833, and I hold in 1864. 
Please God, I shall hold it to the end. Even when I 
was under Dr. Whately's influence, I had no temptation 
to be less zealous for the great dogmas of the faith, and 
at various times I used to resist such trains of thought on 
his part, as seemed to me (rightly or wrongly) to obscure 
them. Such was the fundamental principle of the Move- 
ment of 1833." 

Again he writes : 

"A cry was heard on all sides of us, that the 
Tracts and the writings of the Fathers would lead 
us to become Catholics, before we were aware of 
it. This was loudly expressed by members of 
the Evangelical party, who in 1836 had joined 



192 irishmen's sons. 

us in making a protest in Convocation against a 
memorable appointment of the Prime Minister. These 
clergymen even then avowed their desire that the next 
time they were brought up to Oxford to give a vote, it 
might be in order to put down the Popery of the Move- 
ment. There was another reason still, and quite as 
important. Monseigneur Wiseman, with the acuteness 
and zeal which might be expected from that great Prel- 
ate, had anticipated what was coming, had returned to 
England in 1836, had delivered lectures in London on 
the doctrines of Catholicism, and created an impres- 
sion through the country, shared in by ourselves, that 
we had for our opponents in controversy, not only our 
brethren, but our hereditary foes. These were the 
circumstances which led to my publication of ' The 
Prophetical office of the Church viewed relatively to 
Romanism and Popular Protestantism.' " 

" I have said already that, though the object of the 
Movement was to withstand the Liberalism of the day, 
I found and felt this could not be done by mere nega- 
tives. It was necessary for us to have a positive 
Church theory erected on a definite basis. This took 
me to the great Anglican divines ; and then of course I 
found at once that it w T as impossible to form any such 
theory, without cutting across the teaching of the 
Church of Rome. Thus came in the Roman contro- 
versy. 

" When I first turned myself to it, I had neither 
doubt on the subject, nor suspicion that doubt would 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 193 

ever come upon me. It was in this state of mind that 
I began to read up Bellarmine on the one hand, and 
numberless Anglican writers on the other. But I soon 
found, as others had found before me, that it was a 
tangled and manifold controversy, difficult to master, 
more difficult to put out of hand with neatness and pre- 
cision. It was easy to make points, not easy to sum 
up and settle. It was not easy to find a clear issue for 
the dispute, and still less by a logical process to decide 
it in favor of Anglicanism. This difficulty, however, 
had no tendency whatever to harass or perplex me : it 
was a matter not of conviction." 

While in this state of mind, an article by 
Dr. Wiseman, entitled the " Anglican Claim," 
appeared in the Dublin Review. A copy 
was put into Newman's hands, with a view 
to his answering it, but the impression it 
produced on him was far from satisfactory, 
for he tells us : 

" I became excited at the view thus opened upon me. 
I was just starting on a round of visits j and I mention- 
ed my state of mind to two most intimate friends : I 
think to no others. After a while I got calm, and at 
length the vivid impression upon my imagination faded 
away. What I thought about it on reflection, I will 
attempt to describe presently. I had to determine its 
logical value, and its bearing upon my duty. Mean- 
while, so far as this was certain — I had seen the 
7 



194 irishmen's sons. 

shadow of a hand upon the wall. It was clear that I 
had a good deal to learn on the question-of the Churches, 
and that perhaps some new light was coming upon me. 
He who has seen a ghost, cannot be as if he had never 
seen it. The heavens had opened and closed again. 
The thought for the moment had been, ' The Church of 
Rome will be found right after all ; ' and then it had 
vanished. My old convictions remained as before." 

But it would seem that the Doctor's con- 
victions, if the same as before, were consider- 
ably shaken, nay, actually undermined and 
tottering, for he says further on, in reference 
to his reply : 

u However, I had to do what I could, and what was 
best, under the circumstances j I found a general talk 
on the subject of the article in the Dublin Review; 
and, if it had affected me, it was not wonderful that it 
affected others also. As to myself I felt no kind of 
certainty that the argument in it was conclusive." 

Thus distracted by doubts, and en- 
deavoring in vain to find a resting-place in 
the bosom of the English church, Dr. New- 
man continued to fight even against his own 
convictions till he, like so many other Ox- 
ford men, overpowered by the facts and 
arguments that came crowding on him, 
abandoned the unequal combat, and became 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 195 

a Catholic. In 1845, in answer, he says, 
to "a very gracious letter of congratulation," 
he wrote the following letter, evidently 
addressed to Dr. Wiseman : 

" I hope you will have anticipated, before I express 
it, the great gratification which I received from your 
Eminence's letter. That gratification, however, was 
tempered by the apprehension, that kind and anxious 
well-wishers at a distance attach more importance to my 
step than really belongs to it. To me, indeed, personally 
it is of course an inestimable gain : but persons and 
things look great at a distance, which are not so when 
seen close ; and, did your Eminence know me, you 
would see that I was one, about whom there has been 
far more talk for good and bad than he deserves, and 
about whose movements far more expectation has been 
raised than the event will justify. 

" As I never, I do trust, aimed at anything else 
than obedience to my own sense of right, and have 
been magnified into the leader of a party without my 
wishing it or acting as such, so now, much as I may 
wish to the contrary, and earnestly as I may labor (as 
is my duty) to minister in a humble way to the Catholic 
Church, yet my powers will, I fear, disappoint the ex- 
pectations of both my own friends, and of those who 
pray for the peace of Jerusalem. 

" If I might ask of your Eminence a favor, it is 
that you would kindly moderate those anticipations. 
Would it were in my power to do, what I do not aspire 



196 irishmen's sons. 

to do ! At present certainly I cannot look forward to 
the future, and, though it would be a good work if I 
could persuade others to do as I have done, yet it 
seems as if I had quite enough to do in thinking of 
myself." 

A short time after the despatch of this 
letter, Bishop Wiseman called on the writer 
of it, and invited him, with several other 
converts, to Oscott, and eventually sent him 
to Rome. 

Dr. Newman's services in the cause of 
religion and Catholic literature since his con- 
version and ordination are too well known 
and appreciated in both hemispheres to need 
even a passing mention. His powerful 
defence of the Church, her doctrines and 
discipline, have drawn many amiable and 
erudite men within her sheltering arms, but 
his example has probably had a much 
greater effect, particularly on the class of 
thinkers from which he himself sprung. 
How far we may claim credit for Dr. 
"Wiseman in securing this happy acquisi- 
tion to the cause of Catholicity, it is im- 
possible to determine, but certain it is that 
his writings and discourses were not with- 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 197 

out their effect on the conscientious, but 
troubled, minds of the Oxford men. 

Two years after his advent in England, 
Bishop Wiseman published his letters on 
"Catholic Unity," and in 1849, he was made 
Vicar Apostolic of the district of London. 
During the whole of the intervening years 
he was actively employed in the midland 
district in discharging all the duties per- 
taining to his position as coadjutor. He 
was never idle, but, when he could possibly 
spare time, was to be found preaching in 
other districts or lecturing either to his pupils 
at St. Mary's or before literary societies and 
scientific bodies. In this manner he con- 
trived to break down much of the unreason- 
able anti-catholic prejudices which then 
existed in and around Birmingham, and in- 
spired the Catholics of that great business 
centre with a proper sense of the dignity 
of their position. 

Dr. Wiseman, in 1850, was summoned 
to Rome by the Sovereign Pontiff, doubtless 
for consultation on Catholic affairs in Eng- 
land ; at all events a short time after, the 



198 irishmen's sons. 

Holy Father issued an Apostolic letter 
reestablishing the hierarchy in that country, 
and by a subsequent brief appointed him 
Archbishop of Westminster and Cardinal. 
Cardinal Wiseman had the singular good 
fortune to have known personally five 
Popes, and to have enjoyed their uninter- 
rupted patronage, respect, esteem, and con- 
fidence in a remarkable degree. From the 
Christmas day of 1818, when he received 
the blessing of Pius VII, of sainted mem- 
ory, down to the day of his death, he had the 
happiness of being the recipient of every 
attention and kindness from the Vatican. 
With our present beloved Holy Father he 
was an especial favorite, and to him he 
owed the unsolicited honor of being named 
Archbishop and Cardinal, the seventh in 
order of that rank appointed for England 
since the Reformation, and the first who 
had entered the country since the com- 
mencement of Elizabeth's reign. 

The reorganization of the English hie- 
rarchy created an excitement throughout 
Great Britain of such intensity that it is 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 199 

difficult in this country, even at this not 
very remote period, to form a conception of 
it. All classes and creeds were astonished 
and profoundly agitated, though with differ- 
ent emotions. To the Catholics it was an 
omen of unalloyed good, a harbinger of the 
restoration of the old days of faith and 
prayer, and a guarantee that the Holy Fa- 
ther, involved as he was in endless difficul- 
ties, still looked on them with true parent- 
al solicitude. Protestant England was of 
course indignant, insulting, and even threat- 
ening. Newspapers of every shade of politics 
and of no politics at all, opened their bat- 
teries against the Church, and every stale 
calumny and musty falsehood that had slept 
for ages was raked up from the mire of what 
is called modern history and found ready 
vent in their columns. From the jDonderous 
daily "organ" down to the weekly penny 
whistle of some remote village, the same key- 
note was taken up, and slanders, first in- 
vented or revamped in the metropolis, 
spread like circles in the water, till, weaker 
and weaker, they at length reached the ex- 



200 

treme boundaries of the land. Next in volu- 
libit}^ of denunciation of the " scarlet 
woman/' came that class of so-called " min- 
isters of the Lord," coarse, illiterate, and 
intolerant individuals, mostly Methodists, 
who manage to earn a precarious living by 
stirring up the bad passions of the ignorant 
colliers and navvies so numerous in England 
and Wales. It was through the harangues of 
some of these self-ordained bigots that about 
this time a mob was formed in the city of 
London which dragged through the streets 
and actually burned outside of its limits 
an effigy of the Blessed Mother of God. 
Magazine articles also appeared by the score, 
and pamphlets by the hundred, the themes 
of which were invariably the aggression of 
Borne and the danger impending over the 
"Establishment." Now, would any saneper- 
son believe that all this abuse, vilification, 
and attempts at argument arose from the fact 
that a few ecclesiastics, who had formerly 
been styled vicars apostolic, were in future 
to be known as bishops and archbishops, 
with the name of some old Catholic sees 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 201 

attached to their titles to point out their lo- 
cality and spiritual jurisdiction ? 

In assuming territorial titles the bishops 
had interfered with no person nor violated 
any law of the kingdom. So the zealots in 
jDarliarnent set to work to frame a statute 
prohibiting such assumption, as dangerous 
to their " sovereign lady the Queen, defender 
of the faith, etc." This bill was entitled " The 
Ecclesiastical Titles Act," and prohibited, 
under certain pains and penalties, the use 
in writing or otherwise by "foreign" church- 
men, of English titles. It never occurred to 
those wise law-makers that such legislation 
was contrary to the terms of the Act of '29, 
as well as against the spirit of that much 
talked of and little understood conglomera- 
tion denominated the British Constitution. 
It answered its purpose, however, by satis- 
fying the demand of the bigots, who now 
were assured that the Establishment was 
safe. Otherwise it was and still remains a 
dead letter. 

It was bad enough for the Sacred 
College to appoint bishops and archbishops, 



202 

but when it became known that to Bishop 
Wiseman's other high title was to be added 
that of Cardinal, the cup of public indignation 
overflowed. What, a Cardinal of the Popish 
Church planted in the very heart of good old 
Protestant England ! It was too much to 
bear. A vicar apostolic or even an arch- 
bishop might be tolerated in the freest 
country on the globe, but a cardinal, never. 
Still what was to be done ? The Catholics 
were too numerous to be intimidated by the 
mob, and acts of parliament had not been 
found strong enough to stem the ever-rolling 
tide of " papal aggression." The only rem- 
edy was, like that adopted by the. lawyer 
who had a very bad case to defend — to 
abuse the opposite counsel. And this was 
done right roundly. Scribblers of sorts all 
and degrees of viciousness put their steel 
pens in rest and charged at the head of 
countless columns of mendacity and vitu- 
peration on the daring intruder from Rome. 
It was all to no purpose however, for the 
cardinal pursued the even tenor of his way, 
winning friends on all sides while constantly 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 203 

gaining souls to Christ. Some, like New- 
man and the Oxford men, he set thinking 
and searching after truth by his profound 
disquisitions on the doctrines and dogmas 
of the Church ; others he led into the fold 
by his captivating lectures on Christian art 
and science, and many, who were yet in 
the shadow of doubt, he enlightened and 
convinced by his eloquence and argument 
in the pulpit. 

He had now the highest ecclesiastical 
office in the three kingdoms, and he set 
himself diligently to work to fuse and 
assimilate the different classes into which 
the Catholics had been divided. From his 
arrival in England he was sensible of the 
low condition of Catholic literature, if it can 
be said that there was any literature there 
thirty-five years ago. He resolved to 
create and foster one. Good books, peri- 
odicals, and newspapers, he held to be the 
best supports of morality and religion. He 
not only pointed out the way toward 
acquiring those helps, but followed it him- 
self. He collected his lectures and sermons, 



204 irishmen's sons. 

and published them in several volumes ; 
he wrote a most interesting and instructive 
history of Popes Pius VII, Leo XII, Pius 
VIII, and Gregory XVI ; a very beautiful 
classic tale, entitled " Fabiola,"and " Letters 
on Ecclesiastical Affairs." For years he 
was one of the editors of the Dublin Review, 
and many of the ablest articles which ap- 
peared in that quarterly between 1840 and 
1860 were the production of his pen. To 
the newspapers and lesser periodicals he 
was a liberal patron and a frequent con- 
tributor, and was always willing to aid them 
with his purse and advice whenever it was 
found expedient to do so. Though a car- 
dinal, and having multifarious duties to 
perform, he was not above writing stories 
or sketches when a moral was to be pointed 
or a difficult point to be elucidated. Take, 
for example, his delightful little paper on the 
"Ancient Saints of God," published in the 
Month a short time previous to his demise. 
In relating the miraculous interposition of 
SS. Abdom and Sennen in favor of a young 
French officer during the siege of Rome in 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 205 

1848, he thus steps aside for a moment to 
descant on devotion to the saints : 

11 But this is more than a subject of joy : it is one of 
admiration and consolation. For it is the natural course 
of things that sympathies and affections should grow 
less by time. We care and feel much less about the 
conquests of William I, or the prowess of the Black 
Prince, than we do about the victories of Nelson or 
Wellington • even Alfred is a mythical person, and 
Boadicea fabulous; and so it is with all nations. A 
steadily increasing affection and intensifying devotion 
(as in this case we call it) for those remote from us, in 
proportion as we recede from them, is as marvellous — 
nay, as miraculous — as would be the flowing of a stream 
from its source up a steep hill, deepening and widening 
as it rose. And such I consider this growth, through 
succeeding ages, of devout feeling toward those who were 
the root, and seem to become the crown, or flower, of 
the Church It is as if a beam from the sun, or a ray 
from a lamp, grew brighter and warmer in proportion 
as it darted further from its source. 

"I cannot but see in this supernatural disposition, 
evidence of a power ruling from a higher sphere than 
that of ordinary providence, the laws of which, uniform 
elsewhere, are modified or even reversed when the dis- 
pensations of the gospel require it j or rather, these 
have their own proper and ordinary providence, the laws 
of which are uniform within its system. And this is 
one illustration, that what by every ordinary and 



206 irishmen's sons. 

natural course should go on diminishing, goes on in- 
creasing. But I read in this fact an evidence also of 
the stability and perpetuity of our faith; for a line 
that is ever growing thinner and thinner tends, through 
its extenuation, to inanition and total evanescence j 
whereas one that widens and extends as it advances, 
and becomes more solid, thereby gives earnest and 
proof of increasing duration. 

" When we are attacked about practices, devotions, or 
corollaries of faith — * developments,' in other words — 
do we not sometimes labor needlessly to prove that we 
go no further than the Fathers did, and that what we 
do may be justified from ancient authorities % Should 
we not confine ourselves to showing, even without the 
help of antiquity, that what is attacked is good, is sound, 
and is holy j and then thank God that we have so much 
more of it than others formerly possessed ? If it was 
right to say Ora pro nobis once in the day, is it not 
better to say it seven times a day ; and if so, why not 
seventy times seven? The rule of forgiveness may 
well be the rule of seeking intercession for it. But 
whither am I leading you, gentle reader 1 I promised 
you a story, and I am giving you a lecture, and I fear 
a dry one. I must retrace my steps. I wished, there- 
fore, merely to say that, while the saints of the Church 
are very naturally divided by us into three classes — 
holy patrons of the Church, of particular portions of it, 
and of its individual members — there is one raised 
above all others, which passes through all, composed 
of protectors, patrons, and nomenclators, of saints them- 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 207 

selves. For how many Marys, how many Josephs, 
Peters, John:', and Pauls, aie there not in the calendar 
of the saints, called by thuse names without law of 
country or ago ! 

" But beyond this general recognition of the claims 
of our greatest saints, one cannot but sometimes feel 
that the classification which I have described is carried 
by us too far; that a certain human dross enters into 
the composition of our devotion ; we perhaps national- 
ize, or even individualize, the sympathies of those 
whose love is universal, like God's own, in which alone 
they love. We seem to fancy that St. Edward and 
St. Frideswida are still English ; and some persons ap- 
pear to have as strong an objection to one of their 
children bearing any but a Saxon saint's name as they 
have to Italian architecture. We may be quite sure that 
the power and interest in the whole Church have not been 
curtailed by the admission of others like themselves, 
first Christians on earth, then saints in heaven, into 
their blessed society ; but that the friends of God be- 
long to us all, and can and will help us, if we invoke 
them, with loving impartiality." 

It was in this way the Cardinal by 
practice and precept supplied a great de- 
sideratum in English Catholic life, and the 
results of his labors are yet prominently to 
be seen in the very high order of books on 
religious and historical subjects which are 



208 irishmen's sons. 

annually issued from the Catholic press of 
London. He was also an earnest advocate 
for local organizations, when of a moral, 
benevolent, or literary character, and was 
always ready by his presence as a spectator 
or a lecturer to assist them in their good 
work. His appearance in the latter capac- 
ity before mixed audiences had an especial 
effect in removing many prejudices from 
the minds of those who had been taught to 
regard the Catholic as the religion of the 
ignorant and its ministers as the embodi- 
ment of grossness and asperity. 

In the performance of the duties more 
particularly belonging to his position he 
was equally fortunate. He found, as we 
have said, the Catholics of England divided, 
without appreciable social or political in- 
fluence, and to a great extent with inadequate 
pastoral supervision. He united them in 
one harmonious mass, raised them to a level, 
at least, with the most prominent of the 
sects, and left them with fourteen bishops, 
over fifteen hundred priests, nearly a thou- 
sand churches and chapels, more than two 



CAKDINAL WISEMAN. 209 

hundred and fifty religious communities 
and convents, and twenty colleges. 

In 1860, the Cardinal again visited Rome, 
and for the last time beheld the scenes of 
his early youth. His reception by the 
Holy Father was such as might have been 
expected from the character of these two 
great soldiers of the Church. The cardinal, 
modest and humble as ever, knelt at the 
feet of the successor of St. Peter, and re- 
ceived his benediction ; the good Pope 
raised him up, and embraced him with the 
affection of a father. Many and long were 
the conferences they subsequently had to- 
gether, but what transpired during those 
interviews is, and probably will forever 
remain, a profound secret. 

Strengthened and rejuvenated by his visit 
he again returned to the scene of his apos- 
tolic labors, and for four years was unremit- 
ting in his exertions. But he was now soon 
to be called to the reward of his many good 
works. " He had fought the good fight, he 
had kept the faith," and his day of toil was 
near its close. Early in 1875, his health, 



210 irishmen's sons. 

never very robust, showed symptoms of 
decay, and soon after it became known to 
his sorrowing friends that his days were 
numbered. On Saturday, February 4th, 
eleven days before his death, he issued a 
circular to the clergy of his archdiocese, re- 
questing them to cease praying for his re- 
covery but to pray during the Mass on the 
following Sunday for the grace of a happy 
death. On the 5th, surrounded by the 
canons of the chapter, he made the usua' 
solemn asseveration of his faith, and addec 
the following words : "I wish to express 
before the chapter that I have not, and 
never had in my whole life the very slight- 
est doubt or hesitation as to any one of the 
articles of faith. I have always desired to 
keep it, and it is my desire to transmit it 
intact to my successors. Sic me Deus ad- 
juvat et Jicec sancta Dei Evangelia." On the 
15th of February, 1865, his spirit passed 
away. 

His obsequies were conducted with all 
the solemnities known to the Church on such 
sad occasions, and his mortal remains were 



CARDINAL WISEMAN. 211 

followed to their resting place in the Roman 
Catholic cemetery, Kensal Green, by tens of 
thousands of bereaved friends and mourn- 
ing spiritual children. 

How wonderful are the ways of Provi- 
dence ! In the life of Cardinal Wiseman we 
find a new exemplification of the inscrut- 
able justice of the Divine Power. Here is 
a boy, an orphan, whose ancestors had to 
fly their native land for their devotion to 
the Catholic faith ; raised up, nurtured, and 
trained in the centre of Christendom and 
sent to recall to a knowledge of Grod the 
very nation that had so cruelly persecuted 
his forefathers. In the early ages, Ireland 
sent many holy and zealous men to convert 
the Anglo-Saxons, but it is very doubtful if 
any among them were more learned, more 
earnest, or more successful in their mission 
than the illustrious bishop whose body lies 
mouldering without the confines of the Eng- 
lish capital. 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL PHILIP 
H. SHERIDAN. 

The late civil war, which for four years 
desolated our country, resulting in the death 
or maiming of hundreds of thousands of citi- 
zens and the introduction of woe and sorrow 
into as many households, was not without 
its advantages. Apart from the political 
amelioration of some four millions of oiir 
fellow-beings, which grew out of the struggle 
as a military necessity, and the questions of 
inter-State and constitutional law which 
were finally and forever settled by the 
arbitrament of the sword, in the court of 
last resort convened on the field of battle, 
it awakened the dormant energies of the 
country and taught our citizens and the sub- 
jects of other governments our real strength 
and fertility of resources. It is generally 
conceded that war, with its usual attendants, 
famine and pestilence, is an evil of great 
magnitude, but there are misfortunes far 
greater that could befall a nation than even 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 213 

these combined. A people who from long 
repose yield themselves up to enervating 
pleasures or smother the noblest emotions of 
the soul in the sordid pursuit of gain cannot 
long remain free. Human nature appears to 
be so constituted that it sets little value on 
what conies to it unsought or which, being 
cheaply purchased, is indifferently estimated. 
Commerce, manufactures, and agriculture, 
are excellent things in their way, and indis- 
pensable to the greatness of a nation, but 
history teaches us the lesson that a com- 
munity which becomes exclusively devoted 
to those pursuits insensibly but surely loses 
its virility, and eventually falls a prey to do- 
mestic tyranny or foreign aggression. Hence 
it is that war, providing it be waged in a 
just cause, becomes sometimes the lesser of 
two evils, if not an actual blessing. Besides, 
it has its positive advantages, its peculiar 
virtues, which are rarely to be found in times 
of tranquillity. It is on the field, and in 
defence of the helpless and the weak, that 
true courage is fully displayed, and it is 
there also that the strongest and most dis- 



214 irishmen's sons. 

interested friendships are formed. How- 
many sacrifices will be made and privations 
endured by a true soldier for his wounded 
comrades, and even for a stranger or a dis- 
abled enemy. How cheerfully will he hold 
to the feverish lips of his suffering neighbor 
his last draught of water or break in half his 
biscuit for a hungry companion. A sense 
of equal danger and a common cause are sure 
to arouse many beautiful traits of character 
which would have slumbered forever in the 
rivalry and selfishness of ordinary life. 

Though it has been maintained by a very 
great statesman that the age of chivalry 
was dead, we, in the light of recent experi- 
ence, may be permitted to doubt the entire 
correctness of this sweeping assertion. In 
the late internecine war have been witnessed 
acts of Christian charity and unselfish devo- 
tion to suffering humanity that would com- 
pare favorably with any recorded in history 
or fiction of the knights of the middle ages, 
and we have seen commanders, whose kind- 
ness to their soldiers, personal gallantry, and 
daring intrepidity, were hardly surpassed 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 215 

by the deeds ascribed to a Bayard or a 
Godfrey de Bouillon. Of those officers 
not the least conspicuous was Philip H. 
Sheridan, or, as his soldiers loved to call 
him, " Fighting Phil." 

Though his numerous biographers differ 
as to the precise locality in which General 
Sheridan was born, all agree that his parents 
landed in Boston, Mass., from Ireland, in 
1831. Some have stated that he was born 
in that city and others that his birthplace 
was in the State of Ohio. In support of 
the second assertion we have the authority 
of the " Register of the Army of the United 
States," which fixes his nativity in the 
latter place. It is certain also that shortly 
after their arrival in this country his father 
and mother immigrated to the West, and 
settled in Perry county, 0., where the future 
lieutenant-general doubtless first saw the 
light. At that time Perry county, as now, 
was principally inhabited by Catholics and 
compatriots of the elder Sheridan, so that 
he found himself comparatively at home in 
his new location. St. Joseph's Church, at 



216 

Sommerset in that county, is the oldest 
temple of worship in the State ; and here 
young Sheridan's pious mother would often 
bring him to learn those solemn and salu- 
tary lessons of faith and charity which in 
all the trying hours of his after life were 
never forgotten. 

Little is known of his childhood but that 
he was an open-hearted, ingenuous, and 
daring boy, fond of all the amusements 
natural to his age and social position, and 
particularly attached to the noblest of irra- 
tional animals, the horse. Many anecdotes 
are related of his courageous, not to say 
reckless, riding, and of his hairbreadth es- 
capes with untamed animals. His father, 
like most emigrants burdened with a large 
family, was unable to give his boy as good 
an education as he desired, and " Phil," 
being of an independent turn of mind, re- 
solved to make his own way in the world 
before his boyhood had well commenced. 
He therefore journeyed to Lanesville, 
Muskingum county, and when other lads of 
his age were enjoying the advantages of 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 217 

proper tuition or whiling away their time in 
sports and pastimes, the inchoate general 
was occupied in the useful but not very 
exalted duty of driving a water-cart. Still, 
in one way or another, he must have acquired 
the rudiments, at least, of an English edu- 
cation, for when about sixteen years of 
age, he attracted the notice of the member 
of Congress for his district, and was ap- 
pointed through his influence a cadet at 
West Point ; he easily passed the prelim- 
inary examination necessary for entrance 
into the academy. We regret that we can- 
not recall the name of his patron, partly 
in gratitude for his kindness and partly 
in esteem for that quickness of perception 
which could see in the generous, industrious 
young waterman the germs of great mental 
and physical qualities. 

Nor was Sheridan unworthy of his gen- 
erous benefactor. He entered the Military 
Academy in 1848, and graduated July 1st, 
1853, " well up" in his class. McPherson, 
Schofield, Terrel, Sill, Hood, and other 
subsequently distinguished general officers, 



218 irishmen's sons. 

being his contemporaries. All the interven- 
ing years were spent by him in the earnest, 
unremitting study of his future profession. 
Every detail of military knowledge was 
mastered with a quiet patience and applica- 
tion that astonished his more volatile fel- 
low-students, and every duty from mount- 
ing guard upward, was performed with 
scrupulous fidelity. Engineering, artillery 
practice, pavalry and infantry tactics, 
languages, and all the other acquirements 
which form the curriculum of a West Point 
education, were studied with care and 
thoroughness. With the cadets he was a 
general favorite on account of his frank, 
manly, and straightforward disposition, 
while the professors of the institution 
regarded him as a model of industry and 
perseverance. 

Sheridan's first commission was that of 
brevet second lieutenant in the First 
United States infantry in 1853, and in 
the autumn of that year we find him on 
duty at Fort Duncan, a military post on 
the Rio Grande, Texas. The station was 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 219 

surrounded by roving bands of Apaches, 
whose friendship could seldom be relied 
on, but whose hostility was almost certain. 
Of this the lieutenant was soon painfully 
conscious. Happening one day to wander 
away some distance from the fort, with but 
two companions, he found himself suddenly 
surprised and surrounded by a band of 
savages led by one of their most noted 
chiefs. The Indians, judging from the 
fewness of the pale faces that no resistance 
would be offered, called upon them to 
surrender ; and their leader, with his fol- 
lowers, dismounted to disarm them. Quick 
as thought Sheridan vaulted into the vacant 
saddle and rode with all possible speed to the 
fort for assistance. At the moment of his 
arrival a company was coming out for drill, 
and this he straightway ordered to follow 
him. They arrived in time to save their 
comrades and chastise the Apaches; the 
young lieutenant with his own hand slay- 
ing the chief and some of his marauders. 

An action so opportune and gallant, one 
would have thought, would have been re- 



220 irishmen's sons. 

warded with some honorable mention; but 
the reverse was the fact. The commanding 
officer of Fort Duncan never forgave him 
for it, and during his residence of two years 
made his life as uncomfortable as possible. 
He was a man, it appears, of violent South- 
ern opinions, which he afterwards carried 
out to their logical conclusion by joining 
the rebellion and attempting to destroy the 
Government that had fed and fostered him, 
and to which he had more than once sworn 
allegiance. 

In the spring of 1855, Sheridan was 
created a full lieutenant, and assigned to 
the Fourth United States infantry, then 
in Oregon. He accordingly proceeded to 
New York for the purpose of taking 
shipping for that State; but as the quota of 
recruits which he was to take to his regi- 
ment was not fully made up he was for a 
time placed in command of Fort Wood in 
New York harbor. In July he left the 
fort and reached the shores of the 
Pacific, with his men, without' accident 
or interruption. Soon after his arrival he 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 221 

was ordered to escort Lieutenant William- 
son's expedition to a tributary of the Colum- 
bia river, for the purpose of surveying a 
branch route to the Pacific railroad, and 
in the fall he was ordered to report at 
Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory. 
In the early spring of 1856, he accompanied 
Major Eains, in his campaign against the 
Yokima Indians, and in the battle of the 
Cascades, April 28th, in which those savages 
were completely defeated, he distinguished 
himself so highly that his name received 
special and very honorable mention in 
Lieutenant- General Scott's report. The 
result of this engagement was the formation 
of the Yokima Reservation, with Lieutenant 
Sheridan as its civil and military command- 
ant, a position which, it seems, he filled with 
great credit to himself and to the satisfaction 
of his superior officers. The following 
summer he established a new military post 
at Yamhill. Three years of a weary and 
monotonous life followed, broken only 
by Indian skirmishes, raids, and marches 
through an almost deserted and impassable 



222 irishmen's sons. 

country. Those who have experienced 
the dullness and inconvenience of a soldier's 
life on the frontiers, deprived of everything 
like civilized companionship, and con- 
stantly on the alert against the attacks 
of wily and implacable foes, can best ap- 
preciate what a man of Sheridan's temper- 
ament and social habits must have suf- 
fered ; but it was part of his duties ; and, as 
usual, he performed it with cheerfulness and 
fidelity. 

At length he was commissioned captain 
in the Thirteenth United States infantry, 
then commanded by Colonel (now General) 
William T. Sherman, and in 1861 ordered 
to report at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, 
Missouri. He was there first detailed as 
president of a board of audit to examine 
claims against the government alleged to 
have been created under Fremont during 
that officer's sojourn in the west. Although 
the position was an entirely new one to 
him, he acquitted himself with more than 
credit ; for he contrived, while allowing all 
just demands of the claimants, to satisfy the 



\ 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 223 

authorities in Washington as to the equity 
of his decisions. 

At the commencement of the war, the 
government very wisely assigned subor- 
dinate officers of the regular army to the 
more important posts and bases of supplies, 
as commissaries or quartermasters. The 
step was most judicious, for it greatly facili- 
tated the movement, clothing, and feeding 
of troops. Volunteers, though of equal or 
perhaps superior intelligence in ordinary 
business transactions, had not yet acquired 
a sufficient knowledge of these essential 
requisites of a well-governed army, and re- 
quired instruction from those who had been 
taught it as part of their profession. Thus 
Captain Sheridan was appointed chief 
Quartermaster-General to the Army of the 
Southwest, then in Missouri. His arrival 
at headquarters is thus graphically de- 
scribed by a staff officer : " A modest, quiet 
little man was our quartermaster. Yet no- 
body could deny the vitalizing energy and 
masterly force of his presence. Neat in 
person, courteous in demeanor, exact in the 



224 irishmen's sons. 

transaction of business, and most accurate 
in all matters appertaining to the regulations, 
orders, and general military customs, it was 
no wonder that our acting chief quarter- 
master should have been universally liked." 
In December, in the same capacity, he re- 
ported at Lebanon to General Curtis, and 
was immediately put on duty. The depots 
at Rolla and Springfield were under his 
charge, and his whole time was occupied 
in providing and forwarding rations, arms, 
and accoutrements to the troops. After 
the battle of Pea Eidge, March 6th, 1862, 
he was sent to Wisconsin to purchase 
horses, but he was soon recalled to the 
field, as his services at the time could not 
well be dispensed with, and was ajDpointed 
quartermaster under Major-General Hal- 
leck. In May occurred the battle and 
siege of Corinth. During the latter, the 
necessity of an efficient cavalry force, to 
cut off raiders and intercept supplies, and 
a dashing and experienced officer to lead it, 
became apparent, so the choice fell on 
Sheridan, who was forthwith commissioned 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 225 

by the Governor of Minnesota, Colonel of 
the second Volunteer cavalry of that State. 
The change must have been a pleasant 
one for such an enthusiastic horseman, for 
though the staff appointment had many at- 
tractions and comforts, the position of quar- 
termaster or commissary, being that of a 
non-combatant, is seldom relished by a true 
soldier. Still, the experience he obtained 
while so acting was of great service to him 
afterwards, when he had an independent 
command. Once in the saddle, Colonel 
Sheridan was in his proper element. At- 
tached to Elliott's command, sometimes with 
one regiment and at others with two, he was 
incessantly raiding round Corinth, harassing 
the enemy/ and intercepting their convoys. 
On the 6th of June, being on a reconnois- 
sance below Donaldson's Crossroads, he 
fell in with Forrest's cavalry, and, after a 
sharp engagement, drove them back in con- 
fusion. On the 8th he pursued them for 
several miles and chased them through 
Baldwin, and on the 12th, his cammand, 
consisting of the Second Iowa volunteers and 
8 



226 irishmen's sons. 

his own regiment, was formed into a bri- 
gade. He met the rebel General Chalmers, 
at the head of nine regiments, in all about 
six thonsand men, July 1st, and, with his 
little brigade, utterly defeated him and fol- 
lowed up his victory by a pursuit of twenty 
miles. For this gallant action he received 
the greatest praise in orders from General 
Grant, who at the same time recommended 
him for promotion. He was accordingly 
commissioned brigadier-general a few days 
after; and in September following he 
handseled his new commission by beating 
Colonel Faulkner near Bienzi. 

Soon after this engagement his command 
was greatly enlarged, and made part of the 
Army of the Ohio. It had become ap- 
parent that Sheridan was the proper officer 
to lead the cavahy, and from that time for- 
ward he was employed on every occasion 
when skill and daring were required. When 
Bragg's army threatened Louisville, then 
badly garrisoned, he was sent to defend it, 
and did so with such judgment and ce- 
lerity that the rebels declined to attack it : 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 227 

and when the Army of the Ohio marched 
in the direction of Perryville, his troopers 
led the van of the Eleventh division. In 
the battle that took place in the neighbor- 
hood of that village on the 1st of October, 
General Sheridan was conspicuous, not only 
for his bravery but for the judicious manner 
in which he fought his men, and though he 
lost over four hundred killed or wounded, 
he, says one of his biographers " saved the 
Union army." 

In the latter part of October of this year 
the Army of the Ohio was changed into that 
of the Cumberland, under Major-General 
Rosecrans ; and Sheridan was appointed to 
the command of a division in McCook's corps, 
of which his command formed the right 
wing. Then followed the battle of Murfrees- 
borough, one of the most hotly contested 
fights of the war. Sheridan of course was 
in the thickest part of it, struggling manfully 
against overpowering numbers and obsti- 
nately disputing every inch of ground. Four 
times in succession he repulsed Hardee's 
troops, and would in all probability have 



228 

held his position while he had a man left, 
had reinforcements not been sent to enable 
him to assume the offensive. These were 
brought by General Rousseau, who thus 
humorously describes the condition of affairs 
when he came upon Sheridan. " I knew 
it was hell in there before I got in, but I 
was convinced of it when I saw Phil Sheri- 
dan, with hat in one hand and sword in the 
other, fighting as if he were the devil incar- 
nate, or had a fresh indulgence from Father 
Tracy every five minutes." Father Tracy 
here mentioned, it may be remarked, was 
Major- General Rosecrans' chaplain, and 
was highly esteemed in the Army of the 
Cumberland, even by those who were not 
Catholics, for his amiability and strict atten- 
tion to his clerical duties. 

On the last day of the year 1862, Sheridan 
was promoted to the rank of Major-General, 
and during the winter and early spring de- 
voted himself exclusively to the drilling and 
equipping of his men, varied by an occa- 
sional raid now and then to try the mettle 
of their horses and to keep the enemy 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 229 

constantly in a state of alarm. In July 
Eosecrans moved toward Chattanooga, and 
Sheridan, as part of McCook's command, 
took the Shelbyville road, crossed the Elk 
river, and captured Cowan. On this march 
he also had some successful skirmishes at 
Liberty Gap and Winchester. 

About this time the following incident 
occurred to the Major- General, for which 
we are indebted to an eye-witness for a 
description. He says : " The belligerent 
in Sheridan's organization is often aroused 
without the stimulus of the smell of powder. 
In 1863, while Sheridan was encamped in 
Bridgeport, Alabama, he invited General 
George H. Thomas, then encamped at Dick- 
ford, Tennessee, to examine the works erected 
at Bridgeport and the preparations going on 
for rebuilding the bridge. At one of the 
way stations, the train halted for an un- 
usually long time, and Sheridan, in asking 
the conductor, a great burly six-footer, the 
reason of the delay, met with a somewhat 
gruff reply. Sheridan contented himself 
with reproving his manner, and ordered him 



230 irishmen's sons. 

to proceed with the train. The conductor 
did not reply, and failed to obey. After 
waiting for a time, Sheridan sent for the 
conductor, and demanded to know why he 
had not obeyed. The fellow answered still, 
in a gruff manner, that he received his or- 
ders from the military superintendent only. 
Without giving him time to finish the in- 
sulting remark, Sheridan struck him two or 
three rapid blows, kicked him off the cars 
into the hands of a guard, and then ordered 
the train forward, acting as conductor on the 
down and return trip. This accomplished, 
he resumed his seat beside Thomas as if 
nothing unusual had occurred, and pro 
ceeded with the conversation which had 
been so rudely interrupted." 

The battle of Chickamauga, on the 19th 
and 20th of September, was a long-fought 
and well-contested one. Sheridan's division 
was * hotly engaged throughout the entire 
engagement, particularly Lytle's and "Wal- 
worth's brigades, and the result was the 
capture of many prisoners, from five 
different rebel divisions whose onslaught 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 231 

it successively withstood, and the colors of 
the Twenty-fourth Alabama. In his report 
of the operations of his corps on this occa- 
sion, McCook said: "To Major-General 
Sheridan, Third division, Brigadier- Gen- 
eral Johnson, commanding Second division, 
and to B. G. Davis, First division of my 
corps, my thanks are due for their earnest 
cooperation and devotion to duty. Major- 
General Sheridan is commended to his 
country." 

In October the corps of Crittenden and 
McCook were consolidated with Granger's, 
and placed under the command of that 
officer, Major-Gen eral Sheridan still retain- 
ing his division, which had again been 
greatly enlarged. The battle of Lookout 
Mountain, Chattanooga, or Mission Ridge, 
was fought on the 25th of the following 
month, Sheridan's division, as usual, having 
its full share of the fighting and the glory 
attendant on that victory. On the 2d 
day of January, 1863, occurred the engage- 
ment at Stone river, in which he likewise 
played a conspicuous and important part. 



232 

Of this entire campaign it is enough to say 
that no matter in what part of the line the 
fiery Major- General was placed, there 
the hardest sort of fighting and the most 
desperate attacks and resistance were sure 
to take place, and with equal certainty the 
Union troops were ever the victors. Much 
credit of course is due to Sheridan's men for 
their discipline, courage, and endurance. 
They were the flower of the young farmers 
of the West and Southwest, mostly Irish by 
birth or extraction ; but it must be remem- 
bered that the best troops in the world will 
make but a poor display when actually un- 
der fire, if commanded by timid or ignorant 
officers. In all our experience of actual 
warfare we have seldom found the enlisted 
men give way to the enemy till their 
officers showed signs of wavering or confu- 
sion, and we have known raw recruits to 
stand as firm as the oldest veterans, when 
their commandants have set them the 
example of intrepidity and coolness. 

Early in 1863, Sheridan was transferred 
from the Southwest to the East, and a new 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 233 

and larger field of enterprise and distinction 
was opened to him. On the 9th of March 
Grant was summoned to Washington, com- 
missioned Lieutenant- General, and intrust- 
ed with the command of the entire land 
forces of the United States. It was under- 
stood at the time, and confirmed by subse- 
quent events, that he was to be left un- 
trammelled in the disposition and movements 
of the various armies of the Union, and that 
he was to use his own discretion in the 
selection of general officers to command 
them ; they of course looking to him in all 
cases for their orders and instructions. This 
was a wise policy on the part of the Ex- 
ecutive and the Secretary of War, and was 
fully justified by the events which followed. 
In the exercise of this new and ample 
power, Lieutenant-General Grant displayed 
a thorough knowledge of human nature, and 
an insight into the mental capacity of his sub- 
ordinates amounting to veritable genius. 
Setting aside the general officers of the old 
school, he selected comparatively young 
though not untried men for the largest and 



234 irishmen's sons. 

most important commands, such as Sherman, 
Sheridan, Thomas, Hancock, and others of 
that stamp, and hence the march of our 
troops, in whatever direction and in every 
portion of the country, was always attended 
with success. 

Sheridan had spent the greater portion 
of February and March in Tennessee, driv- 
ing out the rebels who still lingered in that 
State, having accomplished which he re- 
turned to Chattanooga. Shortly after his 
arrival he was ordered to Washington, and 
there, greatly to his surprise and no doubt 
gratification, was assigned to the command 
of the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac. 
On his way to the capital be was asked what 
was the object of his visit, but he could give 
no intelligent answer ; for he did not know 
himself what his presence was required for. 
He was not then aware that Grant, during 
his stay in Washington, had spoken of him 
in the highest terms of praise, as the most 
capable officer to assume so important and 
responsible a position as that of commander 
of the cavalry in Virginia. 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 235 

The campaign of 1864 on the Peninsula 
opened on the 1st of May. Major- General 
George Meade was in command of the Army 
of the Potomac, but as this was considered 
the most important portion of our forces, 
and as the fall of the rebel capital, the objec- 
tive point, was much to be desired, both for 
its political and moral effect, Lieutenant- 
General Grant accompanied Meade, and 
remained with him till the termination of 
the war. Sheridan was therefore constantly 
under the immediate supervision and orders 
of the commander-in-chief. 

On the 3d of May, Sheridan crossed 
the Kapidan river with his whole force, and 
on the 4th passed the Wilderness, and 
started on a reconnoitring and raiding ex- 
pedition in the rear of the enemy. He 
successively visited Gray's Church, Parker's 
Store, and Todd's Tavern (strange names for 
a battle flag), Fredericksburg, Childsburg, 
and Beaver Dam station, and at the latter 
place had the good fortune to release some 
three hundred Union prisoners. In his 
course he destroyed large quantities of 



236 irishmen's sons. 

military stores, burned down bridges, and 
tore up rails by the mile. On the 11th, 
when within six miles of Richmond, he en- 
countered a superior force of the enemy's 
cavalry under the notorious Jeb Stuart, and 
a desperate fight took place, ending in the 
death of that misguided officer with that 
of many of his troops, and the capture of 
several guns and prisoners. On the fol- 
lowing day, he threw out a detachment 
toward Richmond, which passed the two 
outer lines of defence, reached within 
a mile of the city, and having obtained all 
necessary information, returned to the 
main body. His next movement was to 
cross the Chickahominy, but on arriving at 
Meadow Bridge he found it partially de- 
stroyed and impassable for artillery and 
cavalry, as well as defended on the other 
side by a large force of rebels. Nothing 
dismayed, he ordered his men to ford the 
river, and dashing across, soon put the enemy 
to flight. While the combat was in prog- 
ress, his rear was attacked, so that he was 
placed between two fires. Leaving a small 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 237 

force to reconstruct the bridge and pursue 
the first party of rebels, he turned on his 
new assailants, and after routing them 
thoroughly, chased them through Mechan- 
icsville, with the loss of many killed or 
wounded and several hundred prisoners. 
He then proceeded, carrying destruction 
everywhere, by Bottom's Bridge to General 
Butler's headquarters, having made the entire 
circuit of the enemy's rear in an incredibly 
short space of time and thoroughly effected 
the object of his expedition. Again we find 
him at headquarters at White House Land- 
ing on the Pamunky, guarding- ih * tiank 
of Meade's army, and - that position he 
rendered most essential service when Grant 
crossed his army over the James river, June 
14th and 15th. Some conception may be 
formed of his valuable aid to the infantry 
and artillery on that occasion, when it is 
understood that the entire army, consisting 
of not less than a hundred and thirty or a 
hundred and forty thousand men, with their 
guns, wagons, horses, and cattle, crossed a 
broad, rapid, and deep river without losing 



238 irishmen's sons. 

a man, a gun, a caisson, or an ambulance, 
and that too, in the very face of Lee's whole 
army. 

Petersburg now became the object of 
attack, as constituting the key to Richmond. 
Some preliminary attempts to take it having 
failed, Grant regularly invested the city and 
threw up works in front of it. Sheridan's 
cavalry being thus let loose, recommenced 
their usual tactics. Crossing the North 
Anna river, he advanced through Buckchild's 
to Gordons ville. Here he encountered a 
ru^ A f rebel calvary, and almost cut it 
into pieces. He next went to Guiney's 
station on the Frea^cksburg and Richmond 
railroad, where he halted for a few days to 
rest his men, and thence returned to the 
White House. But he was soon again in 
motion. On the 23d and 24th, he defeated 
the rebels at Jones's Bridge on the Chicka- 
hominy, and at St. Mary's Church, and 
crossed the James river five miles above 
Powhattan Point. From this time until the 
beginning of August Sheridan may be said 
to have never been out of the saddle, ex- 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 239 

cept during the limited times he allowed 
himself for sleep. It has even been as- 
serted that on many occasions he was seen 
taking his scanty meals on the road, his 
charger on a trot, and his men following 
close after. Whether this be true or not, he 
certainly performed a great deal of work 
by day and night and was perpetually em- 
ployed on the flanks and in the rear of the 
enemy. 

To make a diversion in favor of Lee's 
army, then pent up in Petersburg and Rich- 
mond, as well as to gather in or destroy the 
crops, a large force of rebels was sent to the 
fertile Shenandoah Valley, under General 
Early. This body, scattering over the coun- 
try, obtained much plunder; and what could 
not be carried off was destroyed. Meeting 
with little opposition at first, it advanced 
within a few miles of Harper's Ferry, and 
even threatened our communications with 
Washington. But its successes were short- 
lived. On the 7th, Major- General Sheridan 
was assigned to the middle Military Divis- 
ion to oppose those incursions, and soon 



240 

after we find him indulging in his pastime 
of skirmishing with detachments of Early's 
army. On the 15th of September Grant 
left City Point on a visit to his cavalry com- 
mander, and the result of the conference is 
thus laconically described by the former : 
"I saw," said that general, "that there 
were but two words of instruction neces- 
sary — ' Go in.' " And Sheridan did " go in" 
with a vengeance, for on the 19th he at- 
tacked Early near Winchester, defeated 
him, left hundreds of his men dead or dying, 
and captured several thousand prisoners. 
Following up the fleeing rebels, lie over- 
took them the following day at Fisher's 
Hill, routed Early again, and closely pur- 
sued his demoralized forces through Har- 
risonburg and Staunton. 

Up to this time, Sheridan's rank in the 
regulars was very inferior in comparison to 
his merits and services ; his commissions as 
Colonel, Brigadier- General and Major- Gen- 
eral were only in the Volunteer service, and 
consequently would expire as soon as the 
war was ended. His brilliant exploits in 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 241 

the Valley called the attention of the Presi- 
dent to his abilities and immense activity 
in the execution of his orders, and accord- 
ingly he was appointed Brigadier-General 
in the regular army. 

In the fall of 1864 Sheridan had occasion 
to visit the capital on some business of im- 
portance connected with his command, hav- 
ing left his troops in charge of the next 
ranking officer, and, as he supposed, safe 
from all molestation during his absence. 
But for once was he mistaken. The rebel 
general having been strongly reinforced, and 
having been informed by his scouts that the 
master spirit of the Union forces was not on 
* the field, hazarded an attack on their position 
near Cedar Creek and Strasbourg on the 19th 
of October. The onslaught was fierce and 
well sustained, and at first successful, the 
Union troops being driven back three or 
four miles, defeat staring them in the face 
and all support far beyond assisting distance. 
Despair was depicted on every face. But 
there was succor nigher than they had an- 
ticipated. That morning Sheridan had set 



242 irishmen's sons. 

out leisurely for his camp, and was well on 
the road when he was informed of the 
attack. As he drew a little near to the scene 
of action, he recognized the fact, from the 
sound of the guns, that his men were falling 
back and the enemy was gaining ground on 
them. Then he plunged the rowels of his 
spurs into his horse's flanks and rode as 
few men have ridden before. What thoughts, 
what sensations, must have flashed through 
that excited brain as he tore along the 
road to Winchester. His own reputation 
imperilled, his gallant fellows defeated, and 
cut down, nay, perhaps the very salvation 
of the Republic, all, all, depending on the 
swiftness of his charger and his own% 
presence in the field. On, on, he gallops, 
every moment seeming an hour, while the 
booming of the cannon sounds ominously 
nearer to Winchester, till at length, breath- 
less and hatless, his horse exhausted and 
covered with foam, he dashes in among his 
disorganized troops and with a voice that 
penetrated from end to end of the line — a 
voice that had never ordered in vain — he 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 243 

commands a halt. The effect of his ap- 
pearance and the sound of his voice were 
electrical. The army which had been a 
disorganized mass but a minute previously 
is now re-formed : the infantry in serried 
lines, the artillery in position, and the 
cavalry on either flank. It is now the turn 
of the rebels to stop in astonishment and 
speculate in wonder what had caused such 
a change in their beaten foemen. But 
they have not long to wait. Again the 
trumpet tones of Sheridan ring out clear 
on the atmosphere, Artillery to the front ! 
Infantry, charge ! Away they go with one 
long, wild cheer, every man seeming to be 
animated with the contagious impetuosity 
of his leader, as well as with a burning de- 
sire to wipe out the disgrace of defeat. The 
struggle was short, sharp, and decisive. The 
victors of the morning: have become the 
vanquished at noon. The rebels stood firm 
awhile, then staggered, broke, and fled in 
utter confusion ; and Sheridan, bareheaded 
but with drawn sword, led up his cavalry and 
completed the victory. The pursuit lasted 



244 irishmen's sons. 

till night, many of those who had escaped 
unscathed from the field fell by the road 
side, and those who threw down their arms, 
to the number of fifteen hundred, were 
taken prisoners. Nearly all the artillery, 
wagons, munitions, stores, and horses of 
Early's once formidable command fell into 
the hands of the victors, and that ill-starred 
general but once again troubled the peace- 
ful valley of the Shenandoah — except, per- 
haps, as a reconstructed politician mourning 
over the " Lost Cause," or as a letter writer 
trying to prove that some person other than 
himself was responsible for his want of suc- 
cess. PerhajDs it was " Little Phil Sheridan' 7 
who " sent him whirling down the valley." 
Very likely. 

The decisive victory of Winchester ex- 
cited the greatest enthusiasm in all quarters, 
and in the north, east, and west, Sheridan's 
name was on every tongue, and his praises 
resounded from one end of the Union to 
the other. Had our arms met with a 
reverse no blame could have been attached 
to him, for he was absent by proper 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 245 

authority and by orders of his superior, the 
President. Defeat in such a case would 
have been the fault of others ; the glory of 
the day was all his own. To General 
Grant in particular his Major-General's 
splendid achievement was a source of un- 
alloyed pleasure. He sent a communica- 
tion to Washington, extolling the victor in 
the warmest manner; and with that disin- 
terested admiration which he has ever felt for 
his subordinates, he attributed the success 
of the day entirely to Sheridan's personal 
exertions. " Turning what bid fair to be 
a disaster," he wrote, u into a glorious vic- 
tory, stamps Sheridan, what I always 
thought him, one of the ablest of gen- 
erals." 

In addition to the thanks of a grateful 
country and the admiration and increased 
esteem of his brother officers, the hero of 
the Shenandoah was rewarded by the gov- 
ernment with a commission as Major- Gen- 
eral in the regular service, November, 1864. 
Thus at the early age of thirty-two, without 
political influence, social prestige, or family 



246 irishmen's sons. 

interest, the son of humble Irish parents, the 
errand-boy of Sommerset, found himself the 
second general officer in rank in the regu- 
lar army of the United States, and in 
command higher than some who had 
graduated while he was driving a water- 
cart in the streets of Lanesville. And he had 
the proud satisfaction of knowing that it was 
to his own intrinsic capacity, to his 
diligence, industry, and conscientious ob- 
servance of the rules of his profession, and to 
them alone, that he owed his success and 
elevation to the high grade now conferred 
upon him. 

Sheridan left his winter quarters Feb- 
ruary 27th, 1865, took Staunton March 2d, 
and again defeated Early near Waynes- 
borouffh. This time he left scarcely a shred 
of that warrior's army, and those who had 
the good fortune to escape hastened with 
their unlucky chief out of the Valley as 
quickly as possible, to tell the tale of their 
share in the " Lost Cause." As for Sheridan, 
who always seems to have had a passion 
for raiding, he turned his attention to the 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 247 

destruction of the railroad, the James 
canal, and all other means by which the 
rebels might endeavor to keep up their 
communications or forward their supplies. 
On the 19 th of March he returned to his 
old quarters at White House Landing, and 
allowed his tired troops, weary with con- 
quest, a few days' repose. On the 2 7th we 
find him with the main body of the army 
in front of Petersburg, and in two days after, 
at the head of nine thousand cavalry and 
the Fifth corps, on his way to destroy the 
Danville and South Side railroad. 

The occupation of this road by the rebels 
was a vital point in their system of defence 
of Petersburg and Richmond, as it was the 
only main artery left untouched by which 
they could expect to get reinforcements and 
supplies. It was of course j ealously watched 
and strongly guarded at all times, and when 
the object of Sheridan's expedition became 
apparent to the enemy, large reinforce- 
ments were sent to the menaced point. 
The contending forces met on 31st of 
March at Five Forks, or, as it is sometimes 



248 irishmen's sons. 

called, Amelia Court House. At first, victory 
seemed to favor the rebels, and Sheridan, 
with his cavalry and infantry, was obliged 
to fall back, but only as far as Dinwiddie, 
with some loss. On the following day, hav- 
ing been reinforced by the gallant Second 
corps, in which were the celebrated Irish 
brigade, Corcoran' s Legion, Sixty-ninth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, and many other 
battalions in whole or in greater part Irish, 
he again advanced to Five Forks and re- 
newed the conflict. 

This was the last battle of the war, 
properly so called, and it was contested on 
one side with all the energy, stubbornness, 
and courage of despair, and on the other 
with a fixed determination to conquer, and 
a cool bravery, which are the offspring only 
of conscious rectitude and hard-earned ex- 
perience. Should the rebels succeed, they 
might still be able to hold their capital for 
months longer, and even to ask terms on 
condition of laying down their arms. 
Should they fail and the Union troops take 
possession of the road, Petersburg and 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 249 

Kichmond must be abandoned, Lee and 
his army would be obliged to beat an in- 
glorious retreat, the termination of the war 
would become a certainty, and all the plans 
and hopes based on its success, would vanish 
like the baseless fabric of a vision. 

The prize was a great one — prolonged war 
or speedy peace— and it was contended for 
on both sides with a valor commensurate 
with the importance of the issue involved. 
Sheridan was everywhere on the field 
during the battle, issuing orders, animating 
his men, and even personally putting some 
battalions and brigades into position under 
the most deadly fire. To use a familiar 
phrase, he was bound to win. All our troops 
behaved particularly well, and the Irish 
regiments especially, " who," to use the 
words of a general officer present in the 
engagement, " never fought so splendidly." 

But the die was cast, and the days of the 
so-called Confederacy were numbered. As 
the shadows of the sinking sun lengthened 
on the blood-stained fields and woods of 
Amelia, the enemy's fire became irregular, 



250 irishmen's sons. 

slackened, drooped, and finally ceased, while 
a prolonged cheer from end to end of the 
lines, repeated again and again, told in 
unmistakable tones that the field was won. 
Once again the flag of the young Republic 
floated triumphantly over the u sacred soil" 
— sacred now indeed, for it contains the 
graves of tens of thousands of devoted 
Union soldiers — and the " Stars and Bars," 
the emblem of ingratitude, crime, and trea- 
son, sunk forever, never to be seen again 
but as an object of curiosity, or^a warning to 
those who would endeavor to climb to fame 
and fortune on the ruins of their country. 

General Grant, in writing of this battle 
and of Sheridan's repulse, well said : " Here 
Major-General Sheridan displayed great 
generalship. Instead of retreating with his 
whole command on the main army to" tell 
the story of superior forces encountered, he 
deployed his cavalry on foot, leaving only 
mounted men enough to take charge of the 
horses," thus enabling him to hold his posi- 
tion at Dinwiddie and wait for reinforce- 
ments. The immediate results were the 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 251 

capture of some guns, a quantity of small 
arms, and over five thousand prisoners ; the 
not very remote consequence being the 
evacuation of Petersburg, the surrender of 
Richmond, the flight of the rebel government 
after a diabolical attempt to fire that city, the 
hasty retreat of the remnant of Lee's army, 
and the ending of the war that had cost the 
country so much in blood and treasure. But 
Sheridan could not rest while there was re- 
maining an armed enemy of the Republic to 
be found within his reach. He pursued Lee's 
fugitives with lightning rapidity, cut them 
off from their line of retreat on Staunton, 
and finally so hemmed them in that there 
was no alternative left but total and uncon- 
ditional surrender. When the rebel com- 
mander offered his submission and yielded 
his sword to Lieutenant-General Grant un- 
der the famous apple tree at Appomattox, 
Sheridan was by the side of his chief, and 
doubtless felt that, at last, in the words for- 
merly uttered, he had deserved well of his 
country. 

The war was at length over, the integ- 



252 irishmen's sons. 

rity of the Union, established by our fore- 
fathers after years of struggle, suffering, and 
self-denial, restored, and the volunteer army, 
amounting to over one million of men, re- 
turned to civil life and to their anxious 
families. Let us pause for a moment and 
take a retrospective view of its origin, 
prosecution, and grand results, not as mere 
politicians or factious partisans, but as lovers 
of our common country who wish to profit 
by the clearly-bought lessons of practical 
warfare and desire to shield our children 
from the horrors of such an internecine war 
as many of us have witnessed in the last 
decade, and from the influence of which few 
households were exempt. 

The first symptoms of secession appeared 
in the more conservative body of our na- 
tional legislature during the first term of 
President Jackson. It arose out of the ex- 
istence of a high protective tariff objection- 
able to South Carolina, and the two senators 
from that State, notably Mr. Calhoun, from 
their places in the Senate openly avowed 
their belief that a State had the right, under 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 253 

or beyond the Constitution, to nullify a law 
of the United States. This was followed by 
a convention which actually and expressly 
passed an ordinance of nullification, which 
was subsequently indorsed by the legis- 
lature. Then followed the arming, equipping, 
and drilling of the State militia. Mr. Clay's 
Compromise bill and Jackson's firmness for 
a time averted the danger. But Mr. Calhoun 
had a deeper purpose than the mere collec- 
tion of revenue, as well as a deep-seated 
hostility to the President. His next cause 
of complaint was the use made of the 
United States mail by a few anti-slavery 
men of the North, and though a pronounced 
State Eights man he insisted that laws 
should he passed by certain States to sup- 
press the anti-slavery societies. In this he 
again failed, and he and those who agreed 
with him commenced a course of speaking 
and writing tending greatly to exaggerate 
the strength and importance of the aboli- 
tionists, and thus alarm and estrange the peo- 
ple of the South from their brethren of the 
free States. In vain the representatives of 



254 

these States almost unanimously protested 
against such statements ; in vain they who 
ought to know best declared that the oppo- 
sition to slavery where it existed was con- 
fined to an impotent and theoretical few. 
The virus of secession had inoculated the 
body politic, and it was already exhibiting 
symptoms of disease. The dragons' teeth 
were sown, and they eventually grew up 
armed men. In proportion as the discon- 
tent in the South increased, the anti-slavery 
sentiment spread in the free States, eacli 
faction feeding on the pabulum supplied by 
the other till so strong became the antago- 
nistic feelings that a resort to arms was but 
a question of time. 

Besides, another element was introduced 
into the struggle between the years 1840 and 
1860. That was immigration, by which 
our new States and territories were rapidly 
filled up, and attained, through their repre- 
sentatives in Congress, a large share of legis- 
lative power and executive patronage. In a 
free country like ours, power always follows 
population, and the leaders of the South be- 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 255 

gan to fear that the day was not far distant 
when they would be in a helpless minority 
in Congress. They tried to avoid this, to 
them impending evil, by trying to induce 
immigrants to settle in their section, but to 
no purpose, for with their peculiar system 
of labor white competition was impossible. 
The crisis at last came. The disruption 
of the Charleston and Baltimore demo- 
cratic conventions, if not the result of a 
mature plan, answered the purpose of the 
secessionists as well, and the election of Mr. 
Lincoln in consequence of the division in 
the democratic ranks was the signal for the 
rupture. Thus the quarrel that had been 
commenced by a few fanatics on either side 
grew by degrees to such magnitude that it 
involved the middle conservative classes on 
both sides, and divided the country into 
two hostile camps. Though the conduct 
and language of the New England bigots 
cannot be defended, it is nevertheless true 
that the South was the aggressor and there- 
fore wrong. It sought redress by other 
than constitutional means ; it confiscated 



256 irishmen's sons. 

the public property, fired on the flag of the 
Eepublic, defied the law, and set up a quasi 
independent government within the United 
States, utterly opposed to that which it 
had helped to form and was so solemnly 
pledged to sustain. 

There was no remedy left to the national 
authorities but to put down by armed force 
this formidable rebellion. But as we had 
been at peace for nearly half a century, 
excepting the short period of the Mexican 
war, the country was at first slow to assert 
its authority, and the Executive was not 
always fortunate in the selection of its 
agents. In the southwest, during the 
first three years of the war, much was done 
to restore peace and order, but in the east 
very little. So little indeed that when 
Grant commenced his campaign in the 
spring of 1864, the enemy held all the 
strong positions between Richmond and the 
Rappahannock river, and the Peninsula 
down to Fort Monroe. Long and difficult 
marches had been made without ceasing, 
sometimes over and over the same route, by 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 257 

the troops, and numerous bloody battles 
had been fought and some barren victories 
gained, but the fact remained uncontested 
that the enemy, so far from being subdued 
after three years' strife, were, in the winter 
of 1863-4, safely encamped within a day's 
march of the position occupied by them in 
the summer of 1861, when the somewhat 
absurd battle of Bull Run was fought. The 
cause of this lamentable failure is not to be 
attributed to the inefficiency or want of bra- 
very on the part of the officers of low rank 
and enlisted men, but to the incapacity and 
mutual jealousies of the generals, hardly any 
two of whom could agree on any particular 
plan or method of prosecuting a campaign. 
There was no unity of opinion, no concert 
of action, no subordination of the will 
to superior authority and judgment — the 
very life and soul of all military organiza- 
tions. It was only when Grant assumed 
the supreme command and selected his own 
officers — men who knew no favoritism, and 
had no old grudges to satisfy — that the army 

of the Potomac commenced to move on 
9 



258 irishmen's sons. 

uninterruptedly to victory. Cavalry officers 
there had been by the dozen, whose head- 
quarters were supposed to be in the saddle, 
and their brains probably in the same place, 
who were constantly making great incur- 
sions and generally contriving to get beaten, 
but it was only when Sheridan took hold 
of this branch of the service that his horse- 
men learned to fight battles and win them. 
The results of the successful prosecution 
of the war by such men were most mo- 
mentous, and can only be appreciated by 
a consideration of what would have been the 
consequences, had the rebels succeeded: 
a humiliated people ; the perpetual enslave- 
ment of four millions of human beings ; a 
divided Republic, first into two parts and 
eventually into half a dozen ; a second Mexi- 
co, on a larger and more enduring scale of 
strife and hostility ; the failure of republican 
institutions at home, and the death-blow of 
liberal institutions abroad. Surely a man 
who by his own intrinsic merits, by his 
daring, courage, and admirable generalship, 
contributed so much as Sheridan did, de- 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 259 

serves all the honors that a generous and 
admiring nation have showered upon him. 

There was, however, one man then in 
power, whose soul was so small, or so venal, 
that he could not join in the general song 
of praise. That was Andrew Johnson, the 
only man that ever disgraced the presiden- 
tial chair. In the spring of 1867, Major- 
General Sheridan was appointed to the 
command of the Fifth Military Division, 
comprising the States of Louisiana and 
Texas. His duties here were of a very 
delicate and difficult nature, but he was 
equal to the occasion, and performed them 
with great tact and determination. He 
facilitated as much as possible the recon- 
struction of that portion of the South,, en- 
deavored to win back the people to their 
allegiance, more by kindness and the im- 
partial administration of justice than by 
force, and even went so far in the legitimate 
exercise of his power as to remove the 
provisional governors of the two States men- 
tioned, because they were impediments to, 
rather than assistants of the reconstruction 



260 irishmen's sons. 

laws of Congress. But because he was 
understood to sympathize with that body in 
its opposition to the illegal/proceedings of 
President Johnson, he was removed from 
his command in the following August, 
against the express wishes of General Grant, 
then Commander-in-Chief, who declared that 
Sheridan had performed his civil duties 
faithfully and intelligently, and earnestly 
protested against it. Sheridan, however, to 
gratify the petty malice of the accidental 
president, was ordered to take command of 
the Department of the Mississippi. He 
was, notwithstanding, subsequently commis- 
sioned Lieutenant- General, and is now in 
command of the division of the north-west 
with headquarters at Chicago. 

Fortunately for the country, Lieutenant- 
General Sheridan is still alive, and after all 
his dangers and hardships is in robust health 
and likely to live many years to serve his 
country and even to add new laurels to the 
wreath already entwined round his sword. 
We are tempted to violate the canons of 
biographers of the living, which say, " Praise 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERIDAN. 261 

no man till lie is dead," by a few commen- 
taries on his private character; but knowing 
that this is a censorious world, and that 
no one is free from the accusation of flattery 
who speaks even less than the truth of the 
fortunate and meritorious, we forbear. This, 
however, we will say of the gallant soldier, 
and we have it on the authority of a clerical 
friend well conversant with the facts, that 
from the day he left West Point as a brevet 
second lieutenant till his acceptance at the 
hands of the President and Congress of the 
proud title he now bears, he has never for 
a moment forgot those good and humble 
parents to whom he owes his being and 
his first, lessons in morality and religion; 
and that, amid all the seductions and excite- 
ment of an exceedingly active military 
life, he has constantly remembered them, 
and the teachings which they instilled into 
his heart in early childhood. He has at 
least observed that portion of the decalogue 
which commands us, "Honor thy father 
and thy mother that thy days shall be long 
in the land." 



FIELDMARSHAL LEOPOLD 
O'DONNELL, 

COUNT OF LUCENA AND DUKE OF TETUAN. 

There is no family of Irish birth or 
extraction that has been more generally 
distinguished at home and abroad for high 
military qualities and personal nobility of 
conduct than that of O'Donnell, or, as it was 
called in mediaeval history, Cinel Conaill. 
Other houses, like those of O'Neill, O'Brien, 
and O'Conor, possessed wider domains, 
exercised at times broader sway, and occa- 
sionally produced soldiers and statesmen of 
greater abilities and more enduring fame, but 
to the O'Donnells belongs the transcendent 
merit of having been ever and in all places 
consistent lovers of Ireland, enlightened 
patrons of learning, and devoted as well as 
practical adherents to the ancient faith. 
Almost without an exception, they were 
found on all occasions faithful even amid 
the faithless, and when others were willing 



FIELDMARSHAL o'DONNELL. 263 

to sacrifice the general good for the sake of 
private ends, or to gratify individual malice 
at the expense of principle, the princes 
of Tyrconnell invariably were found true 
to the national cause, literature, and religion. 
For nearly eight centuries they manfully 
opposed by every effort in their power the 
Danish and Anglo-Norman invaders, with 
no ambition but to serve their native land, 
and no foe to chastise save the armed plun- 
derers of their common country. From the 
time of their great ancestor Dulach, hered- 
itary Prince of Tyrconnell (Donegal), down 
to the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, the sword of the O'Donnells scarcely 
ever rested in its scabbard, and while the 
hand of friendship was always extended to 
their fellow chieftains, their arm was potent 
to smite the native traitors as well as the 
foreign despoiler. As an evidence of this 
undying spirit of resistance to foreign ag- 
gression, we may be allowed to quote, from 
the historical lectures of the late Professor 
Eugene O'Curry, the following comments 
on a very old poem written by MacLonain, 



264 irishmen's sons. 

the laureate of Eignechan, son of Dulach, 
who died in 902 : 

" The most curious part of this poem, however, very- 
valuable as it is in an historical point of view, is that in 
which we are told that the chief found himself compelled 
to purchase peace and exemption from plunder and 
devastation for his territory from the 'Danish pirates/ 
who were at this time committing fearful depredations 
along the seaboard of the island. This peace and 
exemption were purchased by the chief consenting to 
the marriage of his three beautiful daughters — Duib- 
hlinn, Bebnadha, and Bebhin — to three of the pirate 
commanders, whose names were Cathais, Turgeis, and 
Tor. After the marriage, the pirates sailed away with 
their wives and their booty to Carraic Bracraighe, in 
Inis Eoghain, now called Innishowen. Here however 
the lady Duibhlinn, who had been married to the 
pirate chief Cathais, eloped from him while he lay 
asleep, taking with her a casket containing trinkets to 
the amount of one thousand ungas in gold ; and she 
succeeded in safely making her escape to the house of 
Cathelan, son of Maelfabhaill, the chief of that district, 
who had been formerly her lover, and under whose 
guardianship she was the more ready to place herself. 
When the pirate awoke and found his bride and his 
casket gone, he flew in a rage to her father, and 
threatened to have his territory ravaged if he did not 
restore to him his casket. This Eignechan undertook 
to do ; and he invited the Dane to come on a certain 



FIELDMARSHAL o'DONNELL. 265 

day, with his brother commanders, and all their imme- 
diate followers, to his court at Clann Maghain, in 
Donegal, where the gold should be restored, and the 
company royally entertained. The Danes arrived, and 
were well entertained accordingly j after which the 
company retired to the lawn of the court, where stood a 
tree upon which the Tyrconnellian warriors were accus- 
tomed to try their comparative strength and dexterity, 
and the metal and sharpness of their swords, by striking 
their mightiest strokes into its trunk. The company, by 
Eignechan's arrangement, sat in circles around this tree, 
for the usual purpose j the chiefs of both parties standing 
nearest to it. Eignechan then stood up to open the 
sports ; and drawing his sword, he struck at the tree, but 
designedly missed it j the weapon glancing off with im- 
mense force, struck his reputed son-in-law, the Dane 
Cathais, on the head, killing him on the spot. This 
was a preconcerted signal for the Tyrconnellians, who 
instantly rushed on the rest of the band of their enemies, 
and quickly put them all to the sword. 

" The number of Danes on this occasion may be in- 
ferred from the stated number of their ships, which was 
one hundred and twenty ; and it is stated that not one 
of then crews escaped. 

" Eignechan then demanded and received the casket 
of gold from his daughter j and he gave it all away on 
the spot, in proper proportions, to the tribes and to the 
chief churches of his principality. Just, however, as he 
had concluded the distribution of the whole of the pi- 
ratical spoil, MacLonain, with his company of learned 



266 irishmen's sons. 

men and pupils, happened to arrive on the lawn, on a 
professional visit to his patron. And here we have a 
characteristic trait of the manners of the times. When 
the chief saw the poet, and found himself with empty 
hands, he blushed, and was silent; but his generous 
people perceiving his confusion, immediately knew the 
cause, and came forward to a man, placing each his 
part of the gold in the hands of his chief. Eignechan's 
face brightened; he re-divided the gold, giving the 
poet a share of it proportionate to his rank and profes- 
sion, and disposing of the remainder among those who 
had so generously relieved him from his embarrassment." 

The patriotism and liberality of the son 
of Dulach seem to have been transmitted 
unimpaired to his descendants. It was 
under their protection and patronage that 
the learned family of the O'Clerys, authors 
of the " Annals of the Four Masters," and 
then no less erudite ancestors flourished, 
two of whom, the celebrated Diarmit 
O'Clerigh and his son Taghg Cam, taught 
the lay college of the "Three Schools," of 
literature, history, and philosophy, as late 
as the fifteenth century. In 1474, Hugh Roe 
O'Donnell built and richly endowed the 
Franciscan monastery of Donegal, which 
existed for one hundred and twenty-seven 



FIELDMAKSHAL o'DONNELL. 267 

years, shedding innumerable blessings on 
the surrounding population, until confiscated 
and dismantled in the last days of the 
bloody Queen Elizabeth. Of the condition 
of this once famous house while the O'Don- 
nels held sway, Father Mooney, in his 
Latin Manuscript translated by the Rev. C. 
P. Meehan, says : 

" Nor is it to be supposed that we lacked where withal 
to tempt the cupidity of the sacrilegious, were such to 
be found among the clansmen of Tyrone or Tyrconnell. 
Quite the contrary j for many years afterwards, when I 
was sacristan, no monastery in the land could make a 
goodlier show of gold and silver than ours. During the 
time I held that office, I had in my custody forty suits 
of vestments, many of them of cloth of gold and silver — 
some interwoven and brocaded with gold, the remainder 
silk. , We had also sixteen silver chalices, which, two 
excepted, were washed with gold ; nor should I forget 
two splendid ciboriums inlaid with precious stones, and 
every other requisite for the altars. This rich furniture 
was the gift of the princes of Tyrconnell ,• and as T 
said before, no matter what prey the Tyronians might 
lift off O'Donnell's lands, there was no one impious 
enough to desecrate or spoil our sacred treasury. We 
fed the poor, comforted them in their sorrows, educated 
the scions of the princely house to whom we owed every- 
thing, chronicled the achievements of their race, prayed 



268 irishmen's sons. 

for the souls of our founders and benefactors, chanted 
the divine offices day and night with great solemnity ; 
and while thus engaged, the tide of war swept harm- 
lessly by our hallowed walls." 

Such was the happy state of this centre 
of piety and charity, long after the intro- 
duction of the " Reformation," in Ireland ; 
but the wars here alluded to as harmlessly 
sweeping by, were simply attempts, often 
renewed, by Shane O'Neill, to conquer all 
Ulster, but who, though in many respects an 
unscrupulous soldier, generally venerated 
the temples and houses dedicated to God. 
The troops of the " Pale," the sanguinary 
apostles of English Protestantism, were less 
fastidious, for nothing was too sacred or too 
venerated to escape their brutal fury. 

The last of the native princes who ruled in 
Donegal was Hugh Roe O'Donnell, who, in 
conjunction with his brother-in-law, i l Aodha" 
(Hugh) O'Neill, waged war with the Eng- 
lish forces for several years, sometimes with 
the most brilliant success ; but at length, out- 
numbered and exhausted, was obliged to 
abandon the unequal /struggle and retire 



FIELDMARSHAL o'DONNELL. 269 

to the Continent in 1601. Hugh Roe lived 
abroad several years, often the honored 
guest of the Sovereign Pontiffs, or at some of 
the Catholic courts, eventually dying at 
Valladolid, in Spain, where he was buried 
with all the ceremonies befitting his rank 
and faith. With him departed from Ireland 
forever many of the principal men of his 
name who had survived the war, and who, 
entering the service of Italy, Austria, or 
Spain, rose to high positions in the army and 
councils of their respective governments. 
The subsequent wars of the " Confederation 
of Kilkenny," and of James II, added mate- 
rially to their numbers. This was particu- 
larly so in the last-named nation, where their 
descendants, even in our day, not only have 
held many of the most distinguished offices 
in the state, but have enjoyed social eminence 
and civic honors equal to those of the high- 
est grandees of that proud and exclusive 
class. Their high breeding, intense catho- 
licity, and elevated sense of honor, were 
thoroughly understood and appreciated by 
the knights of Castile and Aragon, and in 



270 irishmen's sons. 

turn the O'Donnells became thoroughly 
imbued with the hopes, aspirations, and un- 
swerving patriotism of their adopted land, 
without, however, forgetting that of their 
ancestors and of the scene of their ancient 
glory. 

It is a remarkable fact in the history of 
the Irish exiles of the last two or three hun- 
dred years, that while they were everywhere 
welcomed, their bravery and martial skill 
gladly utilized, and their services generally 
well rewarded by the governments under 
which they served, it was in Spain alone 
that the full measure of hospitality and re- 
ward was meted out to them, and where 
they were not alone honored in court and 
camp as wise advisers and true soldiers, but 
admitted into the closest family alliances. 
Well has the poet, addressing Ireland, said : 

Mother of soldiers ! in the cause of Spain 
The Moors in Oran's trench by them were slain j 
For full a hundred years their fatal steel 
Has charged beside the lances of Castile, 
Carb'ry's, TyrconnelPs, Breffny's exiled lords 
To Spain and glory gave their gallant swords. 



FIELDMARSHAL O'DONNELL. 271 

And Spain, of honor jealous, gave them place 
Before her native sons in glory's race ; 
Her noblest laurels graced your soldier's head, 
Her dearest daughters shared your soldier's bed : 
In danger's hour she called them to the front, 
And gave to them the praise who bore the brunt ; 
Mother of Soldiers ! Spain to-day will be 
A willing witness for thy sons and thee ! n 

From the beginning of the seventeenth 
century to the present time the name of 
O'Donnell has been a familiar one in the 
Spanish army lists, earning and honorably 
holding their commissions from the lowest 
to the highest grades in the service, and the 
subject of the present sketch may be taken 
as an illustration of the varied career of the 
entire family. 

His father was Lieutenant- General 
Charles O'Donnell and his mother Donna 
Josephine Goris. While General O'Donnell 
was discharging the duties of Viceroy of 
Teneriffe, his son Leopold was born at Santa 
Cruz, the capital of the island, in January, 
1809. From his birth he was destined for 
the military profession, and like the illus- 
trious LallyTollendal, he was trained up 



272 irishmen's sons. 

to the use of arms from early childhood. 
At the age of ten years, having, as it was 
supposed, completed his primary education, 
he was commissioned sous-lieutenant in 
the Spanish army known as the Imperial 
Alexander. This was no mere nominal ap- 
pointment, no empty compliment like that 
so frequently paid to the infant scions of 
royal houses in Europe, but involved the 
performance of actual duties and the multifa- 
rious responsibilities of a soldier's life. In 
the following year, we find him at the head- 
quarters of his regiment at Ocana, when 
the so-called liberal constitution of 1812 
was proclaimed by another O'Donnell, the 
Conde del Abisbal; but though his father 
and his near relatives were opposed to 
such a revolutionary step, and even left the 
service for a time, young Leopold remained 
at his post, and continued, with unabated 
ardor, the study of the profession of which 
he was destined to be so shining an orna- 
ment. Not without an interruption however. 
His mother, it seems, thinking the boy too 
young for the hardships and temptations 



FIELDMARSHAL o'DONNELL. 273 

of camp life, or displeased with the 
conduct of the temporary government, re- 
solved to pass into France and take her 
son with her. For this offence of being ab- 
sent without leave the little lieutenant was 
court-martialled on his return, but upon the 
hearing of the charge was honorably ac- 
quitted. 

Thus we see that at an age when 
most boys are found at school, and their 
leisure time devoted to toys and the allure- 
ments of the confectioner, young Leopold 
O'Donnell's life had already become event- 
ful ; a foretaste of what was yet in store 
for him when the trying times, which were 
soon to desolate his country, should arrive. 

When, in 1823, the French army under 
the Due d'Angouleme, son of Charles X, 
entered Spain to support Ferdinand VII, 
O'Donnell was at Valladolid; and soon after 
we find him on the staff of the Division of 
Castile, as aide to the commanding gene- 
ral. In this capacity he was present at the 
siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, and so distin- 
guished himself by intrepidity and cool- 



274 irishmen's sons. 

ness under fire that lie was forthwith pro- 
moted to the rank of full lieutenant. Soon 
after he was commissioned captain in the 
royal Guards, a rank which he held up to 
the death of Ferdinand VII. 

This latter event, which took place on 
the 29th of September, 1833, was the fruit- 
ful cause of all the miseries which have 
cursed the Spanish peninsula to the pres- 
ent moment — anarchy, pestilence, blood- 
shed, and rapine. Though commenced more 
than forty years ago, the civil war inau- 
gurated by his widow Christina and Don 
Carlos is still raging with unabated violence 
on the fair plains of Aragon and in the 
busy towns of Catalonia, though most of the 
principals in the quarrel have been long 
since called to their great account. In 
order that the reader may fully understand 
the position of Captain O'Donnell at the 
commencement of hostilities we will en- 
deavor to sketch briefly the merits of the 
contest. 

In 1700, Charles II of Spain found him- 
self at the point of death ; and, having no 



FIELDMARSHAL o'DONNELL. 275 

issue he was unable to determine which of 
the numerous candidates to the succession he 
ought to favor. The Austrian party ad- 
vocated the claims of that house, while those 
attached to the Bourbons were warmly in 
favor of one of the sons of the Dauphin of 
France, who was himself the child of a 
Spanish princess, the daughter of Philip 
IV. In this dilemma Charles submitted the , 
question to Pope Innocent XII, who in turn 
laid it before three of the most learned and 
experienced of his cardinals. They, after 
mature deliberation, decided that "his 
Catholic Majesty was in conscience bound 
to entail the succession upon the Due 
d'Anjou or the Due de Berri, the younger 
sons of the Dauphin, provided proper pre- 
cautions were taken against the union of the 
two crowns." This decision was trans- 
mitted to Charles, with an autograph letter 
from the Pontiff, in which he expressed his 
solemn concurrence, and the King, thus 
fortified, acted accordingly. Soon after he 
died, and D'Anjou became his successor 
under the title of Philip V. 



276 irishmen's sons. 

This family alliance between France and 
Spain led to the long and sanguinary War 
of the Succession, in which England and 
Austria combined, without success, to drive 
Philip from the throne of Spain. The strug- 
gle lasted twelve years, and was ended by 
the treaty of Utrecht, July 13th, 1713. 
In that treaty it was agreed that France 
and Spain should forever remain under 
separate governments, and Philip, in com- 
pliance with its conditions, solemnly relin- 
quished his claims on the crown of France 
to his brother De Berri and his heirs. 

To make the matter more certain, however, 
he resolved to limit the succession to the 
Spanish throne in the male line. The pro- 
ject of the monarch was laid before the 
Councils of State and of Castile, and having 
been duly considered was unanimously ap- 
proved by them. The Deputies of the 
Cortes were then in session in Madrid, and, 
by order of the king, letters were sent to 
every privileged city and town on the 10th 
of May, 1713, instructing them to send their 
delegates "full and sufficient powers to 



FIELDMARSHAL o'DONNELL. 277 

confer and deliberate upon this subject." 
The law limiting the succession to the male 
line was then duly and legally passed, and 
hence the introduction of what is called the 
" Salic law'' into the Spanish constitution. 
In 1789, the Cortes, at the instigation, it is 
said, of Count Floridablanca, minister of 
Charles IV, petitioned that sovereign to de- 
clare by pragmatic sanction the abrogation 
of the law of 1713 and a return to " the old 
law of succession." For some reason 
Charles neglected to comply with the prayer 
of the petition, and it was only in 1830, 
forty years afterwards, that Ferdinand VII 
issued his decree which commenced as fol- 
lows : " Pragmatic sanction having the 
force of law, decreed by King Charles IV, 
on the petition of the Cortes for the year 
1789, and ordered to be published by his 
reigning majesty (Ferdinand VII) for the 
perpetual observance of Law 2, title 15, par- 
tida 2, establishing the regular succession 
of the crown of Spain." 

Hitherto the existence of this law No. 2, 
etc., had been unknown to the Spanish pub- 



278 irishmen's sons. 

lie, and it soon became apparent that Ferdi- 
nand had some object in thus doing away 
with the Salic law. It was this : the king had 
been married to three wives in succession, 
all of whom had died without leaving issue. 
He therefore resolved to marry a fourth, and 
selected Christina of Naples. The wedding 
took place on the 11th of December, 1829: 
Two daughters were the result of this union, 
the older of whom, Isabel, was destined by 
her vacillating father and ambitious mother 
to fill the throne of Spain. As long as the 
Salic law was in existence no female could 
occupy this position, and consequently the 
succession would devolve on Ferdinand's 
brother, Don Carlos, and next, to his sons, of 
whom he had three then living. The king, 
therefore, influenced doubtless by his aspir- 
ing consort, determined to remove this ob- 
struction to his daughter's elevation, and 
though in 1832, during a fit of sickness, he 
annulled the decree of 1830, he no sooner 
recovered than, having previously appointed 
the Queen Regent, he authorized the nullifi- 
cation of his previous act. " His royal mind 



FIELDMARSHAL o'DONNELL. 279 

having been taken by surprise," said the 
Queen Regent's decree of December, 1832, 
" in moments of agony to which he had been 
brought by a serious malady, he signed a 
decree repealing the pragmatic sanction 
of March 29th, 1830, which is hereafter to 
be held as void and of no effect." Early in 
1833, Ferdinand assumed the reins of gov- 
ernment again, and one of his first acts was 
to summon the Cortes to swear allegiance 
to the Infanta, which was accordingly done 
on the 20th of June, Only three months 
before the death of Ferdinand, which oc- 
curre'd on the 29th of September, 1833. 

The issue was now made up, and civil 
war was inevitable. Those in power, head- 
ed by the Regent Christina, held possession 
on the authority of the decrees of 1789, 1830, 
and December, 1832 ; while Don Carlos 
claimed the throne on the ground that the 
Cortes of 1789 had no power to repeal the 
constitutional provision of 1713, as it had 
been summoned for one specific purpose, 
to swear allegiance to the then heir-appar- 
ent, and as he himself was born one year 



280 irishmen's sons. 

before that time and enjoyed inchoate vest- 
ed rights to the throne, neither the act of 
the Cortes nor the pragmatic sanction of 
Ferdinand could deprive him of them. With 
the former were the so-called Liberals and 
the communistic element ; with the Carlists, 
most of the nobility and the old officers of 
the army, and, doubtless, the great major- 
ity of the rural population, particularly in 
the northern provinces. A quadruple treaty 
was also effected against Don Carlos, and 
Dom Miguel, an aspirant for the throne of 
Portugal, between that country, France, 
England, and Christina, by which it was 
agreed that while France was to guard her 
frontiers against the entry of Don Carlos's 
adherents into Spain, and, if required, send 
an army into that country to assist the 
Christinos, England was to keep watch and 
ward by sea; and all were to operate in 
their several ways against the Carlists and 
Miguelites. 

O'Donnell, doubtless for good reasons, 
took the side of the queen, though his 
brother, looking on Don Carlos, or Charles 



FIELDMARSHAL o'DONNELL. 281 

V, as the rightful monarch, espoused his 
cause and fought with great bravery and 
distinction in his army. We have seen 
that Leopold was captain of the Guards 
previous to Ferdinand's demise ; immedi- 
ately on the commencement of hostilities 
he was placed in command of a force of 
grenadiers forming part of a brigade to 
which was assigned the defence of the five 
principal cities of Aragon then menaced 
by the insurgents of Navarre. In this 
position his conduct was considered so 
meritorious, that he was speedily promoted 
to a higher command. We next hear of 
him in the defiles of Mendigorria, Arcos, 
Guerarra, Echerarri, and Erice, where he 
was severely wounded while leading his 
men to a charge ; and it was doubtless for 
this act of gallantry that he was gazetted the 
1st of January, 1836, as colonel of the regi- 
ment of infantry of Gerona. When able 
again to take the field he was placed in 
command of a brigade, consisting of his own 
regiment and that of Malorca, with which 
he took possession of the valley of the Err 



282 irishmen's sons. 

and Roncesvalles, driving the enemy before 
him in all directions. 

Soon after, O'Donnell was sent, with his 
brigade and a regiment of cavalry, to the 
borders of Navarre, to protect the flank of 
the queen's army and keep open its com- 
munications with Madrid, and in doing 1 so 
he had an opportunity of taking a prominent 
part in the battle of Unza, March 19th, 1836, 
for which he received his commission as 
brigadier-general. From June, 1836, to 
May of the following year General O'Don- 
nell was obliged to keep away from active 
operations, in consequence of ' ill health 
and typhus fever. His enforced leisure 
was spent in Vittoria and Logrono. No 
sooner, however, had he recovered from fever 
than, against the earnest remonstrances of 
his physicians, for his wound was still un- 
healed, he again took the field, and having 
joined the headquarters of the army at San 
Sebastian, he was permitted to take part in 
the capture of the lines of Oriamenti, the 
surrender of Hernani, and the fall of Turen- 
terrabia. In other respects he also did good 



FIELDMARSHAL o'DONNELL. 283 

service ; for, some of the queen's regiments 
having about this time mutinied, he quickly- 
reduced them to obedience, as much by his 
personal influence and popularity as by 
any display of force. This happily effected, 
he turned his attention to the Carlists, whom 
he compelled to evacuate Urrieta and Ano- 
ain, and on December 27th he was pro- 
moted major-general. 

Early in the following year he occupied 
the defensive lines of San Sebastian, in 
front of the fortified towns of Hernani, 
Artegaraga, Oyarzun, Irun, and Tuenter- 
rabia, besides twenty redoubts mounted with 
cannon. On the 24th of June he fought 
the enemy and drove them across the Oria, 
after having abandoned their works on the 
left bank of the river. On the 27th he 
again defeated them at Oyarzun, capturing 
many prisoners and valuable stores, and 
early in October he entered the city as a 
conqueror. 

In 1839, O'Donnell was appointed to the 
central army in the place of Nogueras, and 
captain-general of the kingdoms of Aragon, 



284 irishmen's sons. 

Valentia, and Murcia. The enemies' strong- 
holds were then in Lower Aragon, in the 
Maistrazzo and in the provinces of Castellon, 
Teruel, Valencia, and Cuenca. To those 
places his early attention was directed, and 
before the close of the campaign he had 
taken and destroyed nearly all the hostile 
forts and works, and routed or captured 
their defenders. He found time also to re- 
lieve Lucena, then only defended by two 
thousand troops ; and, with but eleven bat- 
talions and nine hundred horse, to signally 
defeat General Don Ramon Cabrera, one of 
the ablest and most experienced officers on 
either side. For this brilliant victory he 
was rewarded with the rank of Lieutenant- 
General and the title of Count of Lucena. 

Thus, though twenty years a soldier, he 
had not attained his thirtieth year before he 
had won, by his skill, prudence, and desper- 
ate bravery, a military command and a 
reputation second to none of his country- 
men. It is interesting also to recollect that 
a portion, at least, of his success was due 
to the gallantry and proverbial bravery of 



FIELDMARSHAL o'DONNELL. 285 

the countrymen of his ancestors, though we 
are by no means inclined to applaud the 
motives which induced so many Irishmen 
at this juncture to leave their homes and 
take part in the domestic quarrels of a 
country that had ever been friendly to them, 
merely to subserve the designs of a disrep- 
utable British minister. 

When England entered into the quad- 
ruple alliance of 1834, she stipulated only 
for the employment of a naval force, but 
with her usual duplicity, what she dared 
not do openly, she endeavored to effect 
by subterfuge. By an order in Council, 
dated June 9th, 1835, the Foreign Enlist- 
ment act was suspended and Colonel Evans, 
himself, unfortunately, an Irishman, was 
selected as the instrument to draw his 
countrymen into the meshes of a foreign 
dispute, in which they could by no pos- 
sibility be concerned, nor from the results 
of which could they be in any way the 
gainers. The so-called " British" Legion 
was however raised, not one in a hundred 
of the men being British, and sent out to 



286 

Spain. During most of their period of ser- 
vice they formed a portion of O'DonnelFs 
command, and of course fought with des- 
perate and headlong valor, all of which, in 
the newspapers of the day and even in 
subsequent histories, being set down to the 
credit of " British heroism" but, as might 
have been expected, their treatment by 
friends and foes alike was anything but 
flattering. By the Christinos they were 
regarded as mere mercenaries, and by the 
Carlists as adventurers who were entitled 
neither to quarter nor the slightest honors 
of war. England, too, though conniving at 
their enlistment, refused them all protection, 
and the remnant of those who had not 
been slain in open battle or fallen sacri- 
fices to the aroused vengeance of the Carlist 
peasantry, was led homeward by an officer 
named O'Connell — destitute alike of honor, 
glory, and even of the common necessaries 
of life. Tom Steele, the afterwards famous 
Pacificator of the Repeal agitation, was, we 
believe, among those unfortunates, and it is, 
probably, to the experience acquired by 



FIELDMARSHAL o'dONNELL. 287 

him in Spain that we are indebted for his 
subsequent devotion to the "moral force" 
doctrine. 

The civil war ended in 1840; the Carlist 
leaders were driven out of the country, and 
their followers either in their graves or seek- 
ing refuge in the mountains and caves. 
The natural results of such internecine strug- 
gles now began to show themselves. The 
victors commenced to quarrel over the spoils. 
One of the first that felt the effects of the 
new order of things was the Count of Lucena. 
Becoming dissatisfied with the intrigues of 
the court of the Queen Regent, he joined an 
insurrectionary party in Madrid in 1841, and 
having proceeded from thence to Pampe- 
luna he was threatened by overpowering 
numbers of the government troops and com- 
pelled to seek safety in flight. By this rash 
act he also lost his rank in the army. In 
two years afterwards he returned to Spain, 
drove Espartero from power, and was not 
only restored to his rank of Lieutenant- Gen- 
eral, but was appointed Captain- General of 
Cuba, the duties of which position he dis- 



288 irishmen's, sons. 

charged to the satisfaction of the people of 
that beautiful island and the home govern- 
ment, till 1 848. I£ is executive abilities while 
in that position were as conspicuous as was 
his military skill during the war; and it 
may be said of him, what cannot be truth- 
fully alleged of many of his predecessors and 
successors, that he endeavored to the best 
of his power to govern the Cubans with 
justice and moderation. 

On his return home he took his seat in the 
Altse Camarilla, and as a peaceful legislator 
promised to become even a more useful 
member of the body politic of Spain than 
he had been as an active defender of the 
throne on the field of battle. Many of his 
speeches during his parliamentary career, 
though short, were full of pith and good 
sense, and exhibited an intimacy with the in- 
tricacies of Spanish politics scarcely to be ex- 
pected from one of his profession. But the 
affairs of Spain were fast degenerating into 
mere chaos, and the only remedy, if it can 
be called so, was armed insurrection. The 
disease of the grand old country had become 



FIELDMAESHAL o'DONNELL. 289 

chronic, and there was no peaceful cure that 
could be applied with effect. An insurrec- 
tion accordingly took place in 1854, headed 
by O'Donnell, who, having been joined by 
the u Progresistas," demanded the reestab- 
lishment of the Constitution of 1837, the 
dismissal of the ministry, the banishment 
of Christina, and the reorganization of the 
national guard. All this was conceded, and 
Espartero returned from exile to act as re- 
gent for the young queen and form a new 
ministry, in which the Count of Lucena held 
the portfolio of War. 

Two years afterwards, this ministry was 
dissolved, Espartero again sent into banish- 
ment, and O'Donnell occupied the post of 
Prime-Minister from July to October, 1856. 
Then came his time to relinquish office, but 
he was again restored in June, 1858. 

In 1856 O'Donnell had been created a 
Fieldmarshal of Spain, and when the war 
between that country and Morocco broke 
out in 1859, he, as the highest ranking of- 
ficer in the army, as well as the ablest mili- 
tary leader, was appointed to the command 



290 

of the army of invasion. Though the war 
lasted only one year, it was full of glory and 
success to the Spanish arms. In a strange 
country, beset with difficulties and discour- 
agement at every step, and confronted by 
a brave, keen, and watchful foe, his cam- 
paign was one series of successes, so that 
even his enemies could not help admiring 
his audacity, tact, and indomitable per- 
severance. A peace most advantageous to 
Spain was concluded in 1860, and the con- 
queror returned amid the applause of a 
proud and grateful people, having, as he 
hoped, conferred honor on his country and 
race, and in return received the title of 
Duke of Tetuan. 

But alas ! for the uncertainty of political 
life and the inconstancy of rulers, particu- 
larly where there is no Salic law; the 
cheers of the populace had scarcely sub- 
sided and the favors of the court had not yet 
grown stale, when he again found himself an 
exile, and for the last time, for he died at 
Biarritz, France, in 1867, in the fifty-ninth 
year of his age, almost within sight of- that 






291 

country which he had served for almost 
half a century. 

His death created a deep sensation in 
Spain ; and those who had been most active 
in causing his banishment now vied with each 
other in honoring his memory. His remains 
were brought to Madrid by order of the 
queen, and with regal pomp and gorgeous 
ceremony deposited in the convent of At ocha. 
As he left no male issue, his title and estates 
descend to his nephew, Charles O'Donnell, 
Marquis of Altisnera. 

Whatever may be our opinions of his 
merits as a statesman, or the correctness of 
his judgment as a politician, few will deny 
Fieldmarshal O'Donnell the possession of 
the leading qualities of a great and success- 
ful soldier: comprehensiveness, resolution, 
undaunted moral and physical courage, and 
a thorough mastery of the details of the art 
of war. With each step of promotion, from 
the very lowest to the highest rank, his 
mind seems to have risen equal, if not 
superior, to each new demand upon its at- 
tention, and the result was that whether 



292 - irishmen's sons. 

called upon to act as sub-lieutenant, colonel, 
or general, he was always singularly 
prompt and invariably successful. In per- 
sonal appearance he had also many advan- 
tages, having been considered remarkably 
handsome, even in his declining years, with 
a commanding figure and a stature con- 
siderably over six feet. Under other -cir- 
cumstances, he might have stood on the hills 
of Donegal or have been inaugurated at Kil- 
macrenan as no unworthy representative of 
the long line of illustrious princes of the 
Cinel ConailL 



THE END. 



SKETCHES 



BY 

COL. JAMES E. McGEE. 

12mo, Extra Cloth, Gold and Ink Designs, 342 pages. Price $1. 



THE author of this highly interesting and instructive volume, who, 
having himself served for several years in the late Irish Brigade, 
in the service of the Union, is therefore practically conversant with 
battles, soldiers, and military tactics and strategy, amongst other 
things, says in his preface : 

"When we consider that, from the surrender of Limerick till the 
era of the French Revolution, three-quarters of a million of adults of 
Irish birth served in the armies and navies of Europe alone ; that 
they were to be found fighting under every flag on the Continent, 
according as their inclination or family ties led them to the choice of 
a home ; that they were, even under the same government, divided 
into various brigades, regiments, parts of regiments, and independent 
commands ; that their officers, forced from their native soil by perse- 
cution and proscriptive laws, were men whose fortunes lay in their 
swords, and their advancement depended neither on court favor nor 
social influence, but on their individual capacity and conduct in 
actual warfare, we can form some estimate of what a mass of facts, 
dates, episodes, and anecdotes an author would have to collate and 
examine who aimed at publishing all the gallant deeds performed 
by Irishmen, even for two or three generations. 

" My object was less ambitious, for I desired only to portray a 
few of these noble actions — to cull, as it were, some flowers from the 
immortal garlands with which modern history has enwreathed the brow 
of Irish valor, and, by presenting them in a well-assorted bouquet, to 
show to the world, in miniature form, what grateful tributes have 
been offered to the exiled and long-suffering children of the land in 
which I had the honor of being born. 

"While selecting prominent characters, and incidentally touching 
on the relation of important battles, I have endeavored also to pre- 
serve as much as possible a chronological sequence, so that those 



